Bonus for Mortal Kombal founder

In the midst of bankruptcy proceedings for Midway, court documents reveal that the company plans to pay over a million dollars in bonuses to Ed Boon, the creator of the Mortal Kombat franchise. The Mortal Kombat IP is the most important (and most sellable) asset left to Midway, and losing the franchise creator could deal a catastrophic blow to the company’s capability to sell off the franchise to a monied suitor. Boon is reportedly working on a new Mortal Kombat game and the bonuses not only pay for his past work on the series but is also sort of a contingency fee to keep him at Midway. Apparently, Boon earned these bonuses yearly.

I’ve made my opinion clear that I think Midway is behaving outrageously and unethically in paying bonuses to management and key insiders instead of paying off employees who have been let go. My opinion on that remains unchanged. I understand that in keeping Boon in house, Midway maximizes the value of the company’s assets, which in turn, may mean that creditors (which now include Midway’s former rank and file employees) have a better chance of getting paid. However, let’s not kid ourselves here. While the move does benefit large institutional creditors who will have first dibs on the shrinking Midway pie, the possibility of shafted Midway employees to get what is rightfully owed them is still slim to none.

Further damning is the fact that while Boon is getting paid over a million bucks, the 110 non-management employees, while they were still employed by Midway, were eligible for $325,000 in bonuses per year. That’s $325,000 total for 110 people versus $1 million for one guy. I  think that Midway’s bankruptcy has shown its management’s true colors.  And the injustice of how layed off employees are being treated by companies who once demanded long hours and sacrifice leaves a bitter taste in all of us.

From Variety via Kotaku

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