Midway is considering selling off the Mortal Kombat franchise, ending a long-running association with the series as it tries to save itself from financial meltdown.

Having debuted in 1992 with the seminal arcade hit, the franchise spawned some 17 games during its time under Midway, the most recent of which, Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe , launched to atowards the end of last year.Midway, and recently handed publishing duties for forthcoming title The Wheelman over to Ubisoft. Now Mortal Kombat may be put out to tender, with the successful sale of the franchise seemingly imperative to rescuing the Chicago based developer – as well as acting as a milestone that would tie in with significant bonus payouts for "officers, management-level employees and other non-insider key employees," as reported onThese bonus payouts – amounting to some $3,755,000 – would come against the backdrop of laid off staff having promised monies withheld, as reported by