Netflix Says Warner Bros Games Doesn't Hold 'Any Value' in $82 Billion Acquisition

Saying that an investment containing Suicide Squad holds no value is like saying LOTR: Gollum is unplayable.

Doesn’t bode well for the developers that Netflix is basically like, “There’s a gaming division?”

Sooo they will be basically selling off all the IPs if this goes through.

If i work in those little divisions in that company , i'd start looking for a new place just in case .

Well yeah, the IPs Warner holds have more value than the gaming studios.

It is chump change in the grand scheme of things. Games aren't going to push the needle for Netflix and they'll likely (and correctly) be wanting to stick to the business they know. There's a lot of risk involved in bigger budget game titles - many of Warner Bros. recent releases being prime examples.

If they don’t wanna make games, can they at least relinquish the “Nemesis” IP (from Shadow of Mordor) so that other devs can make games w it?

The irony being that Netflix subscribers say the same about the games available on Netflix too

i wouldn't be surprised if the the deal goes through and Netflix sell the gaming division, especially WB idiocy with producing live service games , with little interest from gamers and said games bombing

@Czar_Khastik Gollum is a masterpiece. No other game made me laugh, cry, rage and feel regret like this. Truly an emotional rollercoaster.

So BATMAN and MORTAL ***** KOMBAT, don't factor in? How out of touch are these execs?! Hopefully someone helps them see the light.

@Bizzy Exactly. Makes 0% sense to simultaneously be pushing Netflix Games that nobody cares about and then turn around and say that WB Games aren’t of any value when it could be their first meaningful inroad into the gaming sector.

If they actually thought about it for even a second, it could be the perfect opportunity for them to turn their IPs (like Stranger Things) into companion games which will boost the IP, if done correctly. Considering WB handled Hogwarts Legacy it could be the perfect match.

@Simu001 best game ever lol

@illegalmonkey compared to the value of actual movie ip's under WB nope they are not out of touch they just have a different focus that isn't games

I would expect that if Netflix make this acquisition the gaming division will be the first thing to sold off to recoup costs and whatever is left will eventually closed down.

That’s kinda worrying.

@illegalmonkey As much as we like to think otherwise, AAA games are still nowhere close to mainstream culture as the biggest television shows and movies. Pre Suicide Squad Arkhamverse is my favourite version of Batman, and the Arkhamverse is still nowhere close in terms of pop culture relevance to the biggest Batman movies.

By that logic if they don't value the gaming division then the games ip,s would most likely be sold off??

You'll probably find they will use a similar model to disney and marvels spiderman , new batman game made by insomniac confirmed , only on ps 😂

This doesn't bode well for some of my favourite franchises.

Paramount is attempting a hostile takeover of WB and supposedly they have Trump on side.
Netflix has not won anything yet.

There’s a chance they’ll cut the gaming studios and lay off everyone aside from a handful of developers and keeps the IPs to pump out more mobile games for their own service (there’s Netflix variants of mobile games). It’s sad but I do hope the deal won’t go through and the government will intervene to stop the birth of a giant monopoly.

I don't think this really means anything. I see this as the equivalent of saying that you didn't mention your son's paper round money when outlining your finances in a mortgage loan meeting with the bank.

Although I understand his perspective coming from someone who simply is looking at numbers in a spreadsheet through the lens of a TV distributor, as a gamer I’m really really disappointed with this response. The WB games have brought very fond memories over the years for me. To cast off the entire division like some unwanted stepchild is really a slap in the face, and in my opinion, shortsighted.

It’s an expected opinion from suits in a boardroom however. But this is the kind of thinking that shuts down innovation, creativity, and forward exploration. It will probably follow a similar path of what happened to Marvel and Star Wars when a large company took over and tried to squeeze every penny out of the movies and TV. At least Disney had the foresight to not completely ignore the gaming potential of their IP however.

@illegalmonkey it’s relative. Compared to the film and television IP those games are irrelevant, especially to a buyer like Netflix. Netflix has a passing interest in the mobile platform but ultimately has shown very little interest in funding or overseeing the development of its own titles.

If the deal goes through, I could very much see Netflix selling off/disbanding the studios it acquires, then taking a similar approach to Disney and licensing the rights of its IP to other gaming publishers and developers.

They don't seem to be too bothered about that gaming division yet I don't expect them to sell off the billion dollar harry potter gaming IP.

Netflix will be totally happy to hold the gaming IP. They'll just licence them all out
It's the studios that they will shut down or sell off if they can. They won't want that extra staff and will be looking at how to recoup money as Microsoft did.

Microsoft won't be interested in any of it I don't think. Neither Nintendo or Sony. Without the ip can't see any takers for their studios. Massive job losses incoming

We can only hope netflix is willing to sell them afterwards, cause they have little interest in gaming. They will end up being shut down otherwise. Netflix gave up on AAA title development. All they do are cheap mobile games.

Hearing this 10 years ago would have sent dread down my spine, but with how poorly run Rocksteady is now, NetherRealms messing up Mortal Kombat and Monolith a thing of the past, I also don’t think there is much value to the WB Games devision either. However, it’s pretty harrowing that this is even the case now and when a company like Netflix (or Paramount) don’t really care about the gaming side, there really needs to be something put in place that if there is to be an acquisition, gaming divisions should be sold to a buyout that actually wants to do something with the department instead of just letting it rot. A few years ago, I would have been all in on Sony buying WB Games, but it’s a mess now and the best outcome I can seen now unfortunately is whoever buys Warner Bros, they need to sell off the gaming properties and hopefully they can replicate the times when they were great without clueless shareholders asking for l live Service slop or whatever else they see fit to drop on us!

I don't expect much from Netflix when comes to handling video games business.

If they aren't bothered about the games division, then maybe they can sell that off to other publishers 🤷

I'm sure Microsoft will spend 100 billion dollars to get back on top of stupidly expensive acquisition.

None of this makes sense. And I don't trust Netflix anymore than WB to make good use of each studio.

If Netflix is planning on selling off the gaming division, maybe in a bidding war between Tencent and PIF, loudly proclaiming that the division has no value is a bold strategy for driving up the price.🤑

If I worked for those studios I’d be a bit nervous hearing this. Netflix obviously aren’t interested in the gaming side and just hope they’re either sold off separately to someone who is or they actually take it seriously.

This feels like another MS acquisition to me where many could be closed down, projects cancelled. Hope not.

Well hopefully the devs won't lose their jobs over this.

Also, how daft does a person have to be to make a billion dollar purchase and be like "wait, there's a whole division that does something I didn't know about?".

Isnt gaming bigger than movies and music etc even put together though?

Netflix has repeatedly made expensive moves to try and get into the gaming side so its odd that they are so dismissive of it when it's exactly what they have been wanting in that department.

The comments sound like they're more than happy to keep the gaming division alive so long as it's a self-running money spinner, the second there's an issue or a financial failure, they'll probably close the whole thing down without hesitation. Certainly not an encouraging thing to hear for those working in that department.

@Deadlyblack they didnt actually say or even suggest they were unaware of it, obviously they'll be fully aware of it. they just didn't attribute value to that part of the business when deciding how much to offer for the entire business. Netflix are interested in the IP, the back catalogue, and most importantly, the production capabilities, something that Netflix are struggling with, anything else isn't part of what interests them in the deal.

I guess that push for gaming on the Netflix app hasnt gone anywhere? In fairness it is more mobile based, but at one point they were hinting at gaming on a tv with a controller. Say what u want about WB Games now, but they have a hell of a backlog.

Is it just these 3 studios?
Come on, Netflix. Make a good game. Thought netflix wanted to get into gaming.

For that comment alone, I hope Paramount win out 😂

So, this article is completely ignoring Paramount's bid? Netflix hasn't purchased WB yet.

Well we know where netflix would focus cuts next time they felt the need to trim costs. It is possible we have already seen the last game release from one or more of these studios.

At least hogwarts success got their attention. Maybe that franchise is safe for now.

Fingers crossed that netflix loses this deal.

Guess I'm not getting Injustice 3.

Really not shocked. Look at the WB movie, TV and animation catalog. It's a way bigger deal IMO with classic IP all around. Really hope Netflix doesn't lock this all behind streaming, especially media that still hasn't been brought to home video. Maybe not the same thing, but worth mentioning that Netflix rarely lets an exclusive show out of streaming jail. Look at their exclusive anime properties. Can't think of one western blu-ray release.

@illegalmonkey Batman and mortal Kombat has more value as media IP than gaming IP.

As a consumer, the exciting part about this merger would be the 'best in Industry' HBO content. Maybe I'll need just a few streaming subs instead of five? I'm this close to sideloading a Firestick with a VPN but I want to contribute to quality programming.

@Czar_Khastik So, you agree?

...until they want to sell the studios..

i'd rather see sony pick these up instead of tencent , pif or microsoft.

WB’s game division management has been awful of late but Netflix’s is even worse. Netflix recognizing that they lack the skills/temperament/incentive to manage a profitable game division strikes me as reasonable. It’s a damn tough business. Along those lines the ‘Netflix for gaming’ model hasn’t demonstrated that it is commercially viable yet. Games aren’t like tv shows or movies where many fans demand a constant stream of stuff, a few games a year satisfy the vast majority of gamers just fine. .

They might hold good IPs, but their workforce in the gaming department is dogshut, so I whole heartedly agree. They would need to fire 60-80% of the staff and hire competent talent to do anything with their titles.

Poor Avalanche. They keep making hit games for movie studios, and they keep getting shuttered for it. I wonder who’ll buy them next?

Netflix: you seriously can’t see any value in a Hogwarts Legacy for Stranger Things? Seriously?

Hey, Paramount! Can you see any value in a Hogwarts Legacy for Star Trek?

@wilky2988 that Nemesis system was so much fun! Always hoped they'd make a sequel to that overlooked mad max game and work that into it.

Wealth and company consolidation has been such a bane on almost every facet of life. I remember in the US when they broke up the phone company Bell because they became too big. Stuff like that doesn’t happen anymore unfortunately