The entertainment landscape is in the midst of a major shakeup as AT&T has announced they’re breaking off their WarnerMedia division, which includes Warner Bros., HBO, CNN, and DC Comics, which will then merge with Discovery, which owns major cable channels such as TLC, HGTV, and the Food Network. The new media conglomerate doesn’t have a name yet, but AT&T will be pocketing a cool $43 billion from the deal. Of course, the main question for us here is – what does this mean for Warner Bros. Interactive?
You’d think the entirety of Warner Bros’ video game division would be a part of the new Discovery merger, but apparently, that’s not the case. According to Axios’ Stephen Totilo and Sara Fisher, Warner Bros. Interactive is being split up by the merger, with some parts staying with AT&T…
WB Games is getting broken up somehow due to AT&T's WarnerMedia-Discovery sale/merger. "Some of the gaming arm will stay with AT&T and some will go with the new company," rep tells Axios' @sarafischer. No further info. WB Games lists 11 studios, games for all kinds of IP, devices
— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) May 17, 2021
There are currently 11 studios under the Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment umbrella (Avalanche Software, Monolith Productions, NetherRealm Studios, Rocksteady Studios, TT Games, WB Games Boston, WB Games Montreal, WB Games New York, WB Games San Diego, WB Games Los Angles, and WB Games San Francisco). Reports circulated last year that AT&T was specifically looking to unload WB Interactive, but the sale was eventually called off. As of now we don’t know which will be a part of the WB-Discovery merger and which will stay with AT&T.
Honestly, the idea of splitting up Warner Bros. Interactive is a strange one, as so much of their output is focused based on WB IP. It feels very unlikely that any studios currently working on licensed WB projects (Avalanche, Rocksteady, TT Games, WB Games Montreal, WB Games Boston, and their various support studios) won’t be a part of the merger. That potentially leaves NetherRealm and Monolith Productions out in the cold, but who knows? It seems like the WB-Discovery merger was somewhat rushed with a lot of finer details potentially being decided. We’ll have to see how things shake out.
What do you think? If you were in charge of this merger, which Warner Bros. Interactive studios would you take or leave?
