It's after 5:00 pm on Friday, but no power on Earth can stop me from returning to my desk to report a major financial deal. Also, we should have written this earlier, but we were busy deciding which ones were objectively correct. 100 best computer games.
I'm not… sure we included any Warner Bros. games on this list. I just pressed CTRL-F for “Batman” and got zero results. I know, WTF – Arkham Asylum is amazing. Mark needs to stop driving and think about capes for a change. However, I'm sure Warner Bros isn't too concerned about this gross oversight right now. Netflix just announced plans to buy its entertainment business for $82.7 billion in stock and cash.
The deal follows the announcement in June that Warner would split into two parts, with one part of “Streaming & Studios” including Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, DC Studios and HBO, while the other, Global Networks, will handle sports and television news such as TNT and CNN. Netflix wants to buy part of Streaming & Studios, pending regulatory approval in the next 12-18 months, which includes several game studios: Hogwarts Legacy the creators of Avalanche, Lego developers TT Games, Mortal Kombat studio NetherRealm and Rocksteady of Batman Arkham fame, who also created Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League.
As with any major corporate acquisition, it's likely that the whole thing will lead to layoffs and deal cancellations as the acquiring company seeks to recoup some of its costs and show shareholders that they're running a tight ship. Assuming the deal goes through, Netflix said it hopes to “save at least $2 billion to $3 billion annually” over three years.
Warner's gaming division hasn't been doing well lately, and there have already been some major layoffs. “Suicide Squad” was catastrophewhich led to layoffs at Rocksteady in January of this year. In February Warner Closed Monolith, Player First Games and Warner Bros Games, San Diego. Bloomberg reported in March. that the Hogwarts Legacy expansion has been canceled. In May Warner support for Smash 'em up MultiVersus comics has been discontinued announcing the end of major updates to Mortal Kombat 1 from NetherRealm; they also revealed revenue drop by 48% in the last fiscal quarter.
In this context, it is naturally a little troubling that Netflix's press release announcing the proposed acquisition doesn't actually mention gameswith the exception of Game of Squid and Game of Thrones. The focus is on broader “entertainment”, streaming and various Warner intellectual properties. Of course, Netflix already has a video game business, but they have experience your own spreads in the last couple of years and now seems inclined to focus on television and film.
