Hm, we're sure that we won't be looking back on this quote with a suspicious eye down the line. Following Netflix's $82.7 billion acquisition agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery (later challenged by a separate offer from Paramount), Netflix co-CEO, president and director Gregory Peters has said WB Games didn't really factor into the company's decision (thanks for the heads up, Pocket Gamer).
That's according to a recent earnings call, where Peters and Theodore Sarandos — the other co-CEO — were asked if Warner Bros. assets would "enhance or accelerate" success in Netflix's gaming plans. "While they definitely have been doing some great work in the game space," Peters responded, "we actually didn't attribute any value to that from the get-go because they're relatively minor compared to the grand scheme of things".
Peters went on to point out that Warner Bros. has "got great studios and great folks working there," and even noted that its properties have spawned financially successful games in the past. "We think we can incorporate that into what we're offering," he stated, "but just to be clear, we haven't built that into our business model".
As a reminder, Warner Bros. Games includes several big-hitting studios such as NetherRealm, Rocksteady, TT Games and Portkey Games. While the company has been through a rocky number of years following the disappointing performance of Suicide Squad and the shutdown of MultiVersus, among other things, there have also been financial successes with the likes of Hogwarts Legacy.
It remains to be seen what the future of Warner Bros' game division might be under Netflix, though with Paramount Skydance launching a rival bid of its own earlier this week, we imagine it'll be a while before we hear anything concrete.