Midway Doubles Third Quarter Losses

Publisher reports $75.9 million down the hole, hedges bets on upcoming Mortal Kombat title.

At this point, referring to games publisher Midway as some sort of large ship or vessel doesn’t make for an apt metaphor. Instead, its more like a fish tank cracking one too many leaks with not enough fingers plug them all up. Midway reported its third quarter losses today, checking in at $75.9 million. This net loss bests its own first quarter estimates where, having just lost $34 million, it predicted losses to merely double.

On the bright side, Midway did manage to meet its earnings expectations, having earned $51.4 for the quarter, falling in line with its prior guidance of approximately $52 million. These earnings aren’t anything to scoff at either, as a year ago in the same quarter, Midway only managed to squeeze out $36.7 million in profits.

Midway attributes the gains to three of its titles released during the session, namely TNA Impact (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii), Unreal Tournament III (Xbox 360) and Mortal Kombat: Kollection (PS2). Looking to the future, company CEO Matt Booty places the weight of responsibility on their upcoming cross-over fighter, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe to pick up the slack, expecting the release to allow Midway to “enter 2009 with a renewed focus on Midway’s key strengths.”