Midway, publishers of the Mortal Kombat franchise, are in trouble. And how are they looking at getting out of trouble? By giving key Midway employees bonuses! Oh, and by possibly selling off Mortal Kombat.
Court documents surrounding the company's fight for survival have shown that Midway executives have set aside $3,755,000 in bonuses, which is to be divided amongst 29 "officers, management-level employees and other non-insider key employees" if they're able to meet certain goals.
One of those goals was in offloading Wheelman, which Ubisoft just picked up. So that's $497,500 in the pocket. Another objective (so important it's actually listed twice) is being able to secure the "execution of an asset purchase agreement for the sale of Midway's Mortal Kombat franchise assets".
On the one hand, selling off the Mortal Kombat rights might net them enough cash to keep their heads above water. On the other, however, Mortal Kombat is the only thing Midway have left.
Oh, and if you're wondering where a company can find $3,755,000 while in the midst of filing for bankruptcy, that's easy! There's always money to go around when you hold out on paying sacked employees the remainder of their PTO (paid/personal time off), something Midway originally promised they'd do.
Below is an original letter, dated February 9, promising the payment of PTO. Below that, a letter dated February 20, outlining Midway's plan to suspend those promised payments.
Midway Games Seeks Approval of a Key Employee Incentive Plan [netDockets]
[thanks Tech Noir!]