The proposed sale of Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment was big news not so long ago, and with good reason. The company is home to some very lucrative franchises and creative talent, including Rocksteady Studios (Batman: Arkham series) and TT Games (every decent Lego game you can mention).
However, it has now been revealed that parent company AT&T has called off the sale after it deemed Warner Bros Interactive to be too valuable to sell to another party.
The report comes courtesy of Bloomberg, which has spoken to sources close to the matter. The potential sale apparently attracted significant interest and could have bagged AT&T a cool $4 billion. According to sources, the reason for ending the sale was down to the growth potential of the business. Microsoft, Take-Two, Electronic Arts and Activision Blizzard were mentioned as potential buyers when the news of a sale broke back in June.
As noted by MCV, there's been movement at the top of AT&T which may have led to this change of heart; COO John Stankey took over as CEO in July, replacing Randall Stephenson, who remains with the firm in the role of chairman. Warner Bros also has the highly-anticipated Harry Potter RPG in development, which could turn into a sizeable commercial hit. It is also rumoured that the increase in revenue during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic could have convinced AT&T to keep its toe in the water.
However, as Bloomberg's source article states, it may well be the fact that selling Warner Bros wasn't as straightforward as some suspected, as many of its big titles are tied up in licencing deals with companies like DC Comics, Marvel and Lego. While any potential buyer would get the talent at Warner Bros, they might not necessarily get the franchises.
[source bloomberg.com, via mcvuk.com]
Comments 24
Or no one is willing to pay for it.
Keeping the DC games in the company that owns all of DC is the right move. Giving up control would cause licensing issues down the road.
I guess the communication on their network must be terrible.
@MrGawain I think it's because it's too valuable. Mortal Kombat 11 made some serious money, plus the two new DC games (Gotham Knights and Suicide Squad) are going to sell very well.
@progx I work for them (Warnermedia), full disclosure. This is directly related to the strategy of our new CEO.
@doctorhino Good. Now, I want my Arkham collection for the Switch! Haha.
@MrGawain They didn't cost that much. 4 billions would be pocket change for Microsoft.
Microsoft even paid 2 billions for Minecraft alone.
As for being "valuable". Expect even more giga transactions in future Warner Games.
"Besides, we've got to unload DirecTV so we can stop it form hemorrhaging any more money."
Dang, I didn't realize how big AT&T was... Also 4 Billion doesn't seem like a lot for these mega corporations.
This makes sense. It'd be like when Microsoft acquired Rare and pointed at their DKC posters saying "...So we get Donkey Kong, right?"
Imagine EA or Blizzard murdering our beloved franchises..thakn god the deal is off.
@Ventilator
But they aren't selling IP like Minecraft. They're selling Mortal Kombat which doesn't sell Minecraft numbers, then the studios like Rock Steady and TT, but NOT the Warner, DC, and Lego IP- that has to be licensed as well. Those studios are only as good as the staff that work in them, and they can leave once their contracts are up.
Even computers and tech lose their value quickly so it isn't worth paying for antiquated tools- especially at the start of a generation.
When you have Batman, Harry Potter and Mortal Kombat that potentially BILLIONS of dollars on the table (over the course of several years). You would be foolish to give that up
They need to make a DC equivalent to Marvel Avengers Game and make it really good. Imagine teaming up with friends to actually play as the Justice League.
That is good to hear to be honest
@MrGawain Microsoft and EA tried to buy it, I'm pretty sure companies wanted to buy it.
I'm glad. If EA or Activision or Take-Two bought WB Games, I would cry myself to sleep. Microsoft would've been fine, but I understand that people don't wanna pay extra on a second console on one or two games. I mean arguably it could have been on Game Pass and Xbox Cloud Streaming and people could have just played that way, but the best option is still not selling it, at least for now.
@HotGoomba
But for how much? Bet it wasn’t for the asking price otherwise it would have sold.
Good news. EA and Activision were the apparent front runners to buy WB games.... Mortal Kombat already has some sketchy microtransaction stuff with the Krypt, but it's not too bad. I'd imagine EA and Activision would make it 10x worse.
Even though Warner Bros. Interactive has problems of their own but I didn't want them to be bought by a company that could have run them to the grown.
@HotGoomba I think Microsoft could have maybe done some good with them but keeping them out of the hands of EA and Activision is the best thing for the industry. They seem to destroy everything they touch.
@JayJ Yeah, kinda true, Crackdown got worse and worse for every entry; Halo got worse once Bungie left after 3 and Reach; Gears 4 and 5 are just unnecessary at times; and we can't forgive them for what they did with Rare. Heh heh, NEVER. But you know what, Microsoft has gotten better over the years. Rare has made decent stuff again for example, and Everwild looks good. And with their current approach, I trust that they'll let developers, best example being "Double Fine", do their own thing most of the time.
Oh yeah and Game Pass.
@DrDaisy This was embarrasing for ATa&T to realize now that WB is valuable.
Nintendo had a lot to gain by putting their name in the running but they never did.
I'm glad the sale is off though, I wouldn't want EA or Activision to buy it.
@MysteryCupofJoe It's also irrelevant, and now my comments are getting deleted because someone can't take criticism.
By the way, Damien. In case you or someone else is sending me emails regarding this, I can't access my email account at this time so I'm not able to read any such notifications.
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