Warner Bros’ gaming division is still very much up for sale, and a new report from The Information reveals that Microsoft has expressed an interest. The Xbox business has been on an acquisition charge for a few years now, gobbling up both close partners and independently owned studios on the precipice of closure. With the price tag set at an eye-watering $4 billion, however, this would be its biggest purchase yet.
The platform holder could potentially nab studios such as Rocksteady and NetherRealm. However, intellectual property like Batman and Harry Potter would be retained by Warner Bros. Instead, there’s the possibility of some kind of licensing agreement being arranged, where the new owner would be able to continue making games based on said brands in return for royalties. Other suitors so far include Take Two, EA, and Activision Blizzard.
As of yet, no sale has gone through, and it’s business as usual for the publisher, with its DC Fandome event scheduled to take place in August. It’s there we’ll apparently learn about the next Batman title in production, which is reportedly named Gotham Knights. Then later in the year, Avalanche Software’s long-rumoured Harry Potter RPG is set to be revealed.
The very real concern for PlayStation fans, of course, is that some of these developers could stop supporting the PS5 should Xbox add them as first-party teams. It’s obviously far too early to worry about this just yet, but Microsoft certainly has the finances to fund an acquisition like this if it wants to.
[source theinformation.com]
Comments 56
Take Two, EA, ActiBlizz or Microsoft? Now that’s between a rock, a hard place, the devil or the deep blue sea.
The problem that any potential suitors will have when buying Warner Bros gaming division is that virtually all these teams are working on licensed properties.
So in effect, you're going to be paying $4 billion for a bunch of studios who make games which you'll then have to pay royalties on.
There's also the fact that Warner Bros has its own publishing and sales departments which will be jettisoned immediately if purchased by another publisher.
AT&T seems committed to selling, but it's not a straightforward sale at all.
I don’t think their done shopping regardless if this deal happens. Unfortunately I have a bad feeling they’ll announce at least a few studio acquisitions at their press conference this month.
So worried right now!
Maybe we'll finally get that Mortal Kombat vs Killer Instinct game if Microsoft buy them. I want to see Glacius vs Sub Zero matches.
4 Billion and you wont even get any IPs with that? Lol
Not gonna happened.word up son
To be honest out of all of them I'd rather Microsoft buy them, imagine EA or Activision having those licences, at least with Xbox we've still got a chance of getting good games. Its definitely overpriced considering you're not owning any WB IP's but you'd assume that you can cherry pick some exclusive names for a number of years
@IonMagus Obviously there will be some IP as part of the transaction, but not Lord of the Rings, Batman, and Harry Potter. Zero chance.
A lot of Microsoft acquisitions have been companies who have needed funding. Ninja Theory was itself a PS studio until Sony dismissed them. Obsidian has repeatedly gone to Kickstarter for funding, Double Fine also...
I don't know why and are so fearful?! Sony is the company who is the most recent to bribe Bethesda with the timed exclusive. Could just as easily say Nintendo and Microsoft gamers should be worried about Sony...
Outside of Mortal Kombat it's mostly WB licenced games anyway as pointed out in the article.
Why don't people just drop the tribal gaming mentality and enjoy all games on all systems?
@avenovah That would be a special kind of evil. Marvel vs DC as well as Playstation vs Xbox? Nerd blood would flow in the streets 😂😂
@nessisonett It wouldn't be such a bad idea though tbh.
@get2sammyb Same with LEGO. I don't think they'd allow that franchise to go console exclusive. So I imagine there will be a similar deal like MLB if MS does end up buying it.
In the series, 'PlayStation Fans Are....'
I’m not worry, I will be just disappointed if any of these companies buy those studios. ATT should keep investing on those studios especially since gaming is bigger than ever (but we are talking about ATT here; they just keep making moronic decisions, one after another).
Anyhow, whatever happens, it is what it is... Also, I gotta to say that 4 billions dollars is a lot of money for these particular studios (especially without the IPs that made them successful; I guess there is Mortal Kombat, but I have never care about that IP... I’m more of Street Fighter and/or Guilty Gear guy when it comes to fighting games).
It makes so much sense for Microsoft and would be an expensive but clever move. Even without the IP automatically included, they'd be acquiring a group of very talented development teams.
Microsoft purchased Mojang for something like $2.5B. They’ve kept Minecraft multi-platform, so you never know. Especially with that level of investment...
I don't play the WB games, but I'd hate to see it go exclusive.
Please dont be true. I feel like Sony and MS are starting to go in opposite directions. MS continues to pile up good SP studios and Sony is targeting Warframe devs parent company 🤢. Sony should be the ones going after WB studios. Not Leyou that really houses nothing major but Digital Extremes that's been working on the same MP game since before the PS4 even launched.
@FATPC It helps that it was bought by Microsoft and they are not going to make it exclusive. Makes too much money, but minecraft 2.....put it every where except Sony consoles..... that would be a huge blow
eh if i were WB games i would hang tight.. make better planning on which games to make instead of wandering on like dcu..have good strategy. they have good library its mistake to just sell that division for quick cash in..
I am not worried i have the ability to purchase a Xbox SX a few years after I buy PS5. I even looked to buy a X1 but did not see the titles that justified a purchase. Batman and fighting games I always wait till they hit around that $20 range anyway.
Who knows. It feels like Microsoft have big cards to play in two weeks. Phil has been talking Series X up for a while now and whilst that is natural, something seems different this time.
I would be less upset by this acquisition than if they went into an exclusive arrangement with sega (Yakuza, Persona).
Ultimately most of the games i currently want to play are on Playstation so i'll be getting PS5 regardless - but if microsoft bring the goods, it will be difficult not to dip my toe in the pool if the lockheart system is as cheap as is being rumoured.
@get2sammyb I could see a situation where Microsoft would gain some kind of exclusivity for those IPs rather than owning them.
I hate that idea of Microsoft buying Warner bros.
@pip_muzz Do you know how much it costs to buy three consoles and loads of games on them? For many people buying one machine that has the majority of the games on makes more financial sense.
Also this whole timed exclusivity thing isn't really the same becasuse those games will go to other platforms anyway. MS locking down the Mortal Kombat, Batman and Harry Potter IPs make no sense.
It'd be terrible for all markets if NetherRealm became a console exclusive...
@Ken_Kaniff Sony has built many fantastic sp experience studios. Sony lacks a MP studio. Technically, Guerilla can, but considering how hot of a product Horizon is, they can't pass it up. Unless they actually do have a 2nd team...
Microsoft has the opposite problem.
I could see Ms publishing those games on PlayStation anyway.
Couldn’t care less about Batman and Mortal Kombat
Well if they do then that means Xbox can have more games. They’ve been acquiring lots of studios.
Oh so it's ok to promote Sony buying all sorts of development studios but it's a bad thing when Microsoft do it.
Microsoft probably the best outcome from the those stated. Ea or activision probably charge $1 per character in a lego game.
So basically you’re paying $4 billion for the studios and their talent? Talent can leave and studios can fall apart under new management etc... if somehow the I.Ps were included, then yes, makes sense. Batman, Harry Potter are huge, but without them... not sure.
This happened to streaming content providers a few years back. If it goes crazy in the gaming world expect some news IPs (maybe blatant rip offs though) from both sides to compensate...hell it might end up a good thing. Will force each side to compensate for what they lost through a sale
@NomNom That's why they should stick to what they know best...great sp games. That's why I've chose to stick with them. Theres enough mp stuff out there as is.
Does Insomniac own the SpiderMan IP? I bet not.
I actually think Microsoft won't be a problem given that they have let some of their properties end up on Nintendo's platforms...Microsoft loves money enough to not put the WB Games IP exclusively on their platform... at least in the beginning. If it were EA or Activision, then I'd be worried though given how they are abhorrent companies. Take 2 seems to be the fairest one of them all though.
Microsoft seems like the clear best landing spot, even if it means they become exclusive to them. I say this because the other options are terrible, and will likely do nothing of interest, or just ruin it. Looking at you EA.
Microsoft is a very different studio from what it was just at the beginning of the generation. They've produced some great titles.
I could almost see them going multiplat with how much they support the Switch, even if they didn't, the quality of WB games wouldn't drop with them.
So live and let live.
@avenovah I completely agree. Even if they have no access to those licences, those incredible developers are worth their weight in gold.
Hoping for 2K in hopes of some sort of Borderlands/Mortal Kombat crossover
On a smaller note, I’d hate to see the Midway/Atari arcade classic games be limited to one console...NOT that Warner had any plans anyway but I feel that Microsoft would definitely get something cooking with those great old games.
Split the developers up, sell Rocksteady to Nickelodeon and let them produce the four-player TMNT game the world needs.
I would not be happy without Rocksteady games on PlayStation, fingers crossed for a multiplat publisher to make the buyout.
Also, people saying "but Sony took away Spiderman, why Microsoft can't have Batman?", hello? Microsoft took Hellblade, future Obsidian games and future Double Fine games ¿Why would you want third party studios to go exclusive? Let the multiplats alone, same goes for Sony.
Take your greedy green hands away from the danish bricks and the man of bat. Microsoft should NEVER buy WB Games - just give it to third party publishers for heck sake!
£4 billion has been reported to be over priced I doubt anyone stupid would pay that money when your not getting the IPs but leasing them
I've had my share of the Batman games with the Arkham trilogy and I don't play Mortal Kombat anymore (too much gore for my taste). In other words: let MS have it.
If Microsoft buy them it will be a coup, but that doesn't mean they will get batman as well. Only rocksteady, they will have to bid for batman rights like Sony did with spiderman.
I hope that the EA stink doesn't manage to infect them tho
@Menchi Sony mostly aquires studio's that they have a long history with.
Microsoft could afford them,no question. But as others have pointed out most of their buyouts have been small studios that were relatively inexpensive purchases. The one exception to that rule obviously was Mojang/Minecraft but being the live-service cash machine that it was,they could recoup that money relatively quickly.
Also,though WB has the rights to Harry Potter & LOTR,those two properties technically belong to other parties,so could Microsoft gain exclusive gaming rights without their permission?
Whomever does end up getting them,I sadly think the sort of MTX WB were infamous for will seem like horse armour dlc compared to what'll happen with their new owners! :-/
Not sure if it makes sense to spend 4 Billion just for exclusivity.
That kind of money would be more of a turnkey buy like Minecraft.
Minecraft is still on every platform because they need to make money off it.
It's not as good a deal as it first appears, because without the licensed IP what are you really left with? Sure, Rocksteady have made some pretty good games, but I'd argue that they've been downhill since Asylum. And if you like fighting games then NetherRealm is a good purchase.
It's a better purchase for Microsoft I think than it is for Sony. Sony would be better off picking up studios like Bluepoint, or From Software, or something.
@Jarobusa Sony owns Spider-Man. That's why insomniac can continue creating spiderman without a problem. Mortal Kombat would be the only IP included in the deal, if it comes through. Everything else is owned by Warner Bros.
Take-Two would be the safest destination for WB Games. EA and Activision are the two worst companies for consumers. The slight possibility that Microsoft may turn a multi-plat game into an exclusive is very worrying. Just like how Ninja Theory's Hellblade went from being a multi-plat to an exclusive. If it becomes exclusive, Sony would respond by buying another big name, further dividing the gaming community. It will be a lose-lose situation for everyone. If Microsoft keeps it multi-plat even if its a timed exclusive for Xbox, that would be fine. If thats the case, I'd want Microsoft over Take-Two.
@kratreus Disney / Marvel owns Spiderman. Sony has movie rights.
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