NEWS - Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Midway Makes A Few Big Announcements
Midway announced today that it has acquired worldwide rights from Epic Games to publish the next three Unreal titles including Unreal Championship 2: the Liandri Conflict scheduled for first quarter 2005, and the next two Unreal Tournament titles. Unreal is a world-renowned PC and console franchise selling over seven million units and generating nearly $200 million of retail sales since 1999. "Securing the rights to publish the next three Unreal titles is an important accomplishment for Midway, particularly in light of the competition we faced to secure this franchise. With these titles, we are entering the premium PC market with one of the most respected brands in the industry and adding established content to our product portfolio for the next generation of consoles. We look forward to growing the Unreal franchise with our partners at Epic Games both in the PC and console videogame markets. We plan to announce several exciting details in the near future regarding our plans for this franchise, including innovative marketing and promotional campaigns," added Mr. Zucker. Second Quarter Revenues for the 2004 second quarter were $47.3 million, up from $5.0 million in the 2003 second quarter. The 2004 second quarter net loss was $9.0 million, compared with a 2003 second quarter net loss of $54.8 million. The 2004 second quarter loss applicable to common stock was $10.7 million or $0.16 per share, compared with a 2003 second quarter loss applicable to common stock of $55.7 million or $1.20 per share. The 2004 second quarter results included $1.6 million of charges associated with severance payments to Kenneth J. Fedesna who departed from the position of executive vice president - product development, and payments to Neil D. Nicastro who resigned from the position of Chairman of the Board during the quarter. The 2003 second quarter results included $23.2 million of charges relating to the writedown of capitalized product development costs, and $9.5 million of charges incurred under the terms of the Company's severance agreement with its former chief executive officer, Mr. Nicastro. Area 51 "We are shifting Area 51 into 2005 as we believe it is a prudent strategic move from a competitive positioning standpoint. Area 51 is a superb game, and we believe it will receive much more attention in a launch period with comparatively less crowding, such as the first half of 2005. With the additions to our 2005 lineup of Area 51 and Unreal Championship 2, we have significantly bolstered our 2005 product portfolio," concluded Mr. Zucker.Source: http://www.midway.com
