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[ManaByte]

AT&T seeks sale for Warner gaming unit, could fetch about $4 billion, sources say

AT&T is discussing selling its Warner Bros. gaming unit with Take-Two Interactive, Electronic Arts and Activision Blizzard in a deal that could net the wireless giant about $4 billion, according to sources familiar with the matter.

www.cnbc.com

AT&T is discussing a sale of its Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment gaming division in a deal that could fetch about $4 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

Take-Two Interactive Software, Electronic Arts and Activision Blizzard have all expressed interest in buying the gaming division, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. No deal is assured or imminent, two of the people said.

 

[Camreezie]

RIP WB franchises. If any of those three purchase it thats bad news

 

[Cravis]

WB Games? Noooooo

 

[Knitted Knight]

Sony needs to grab Rocksteady. Break that package deal into little pieces.

 

[ACESHIGH]

Not ea or a platform holder

 

[jakinov]

Sony needs to grab Rocksteady. Break that package deal into little pieces.

I wouldn’t. I think the games have some pretty boring shallow and repetitive gameplay and a lot of the appeal is just seeing the cool And sexy cutscenes every 5 minutes. They could be great devs but iD wait until They have a better track record with other kinds of games.

 

[kretos]

Take-Two Interactive Software, Electronic Arts and Activision Blizzard have all expressed interest

it's only going to be worse under these companies

 

[Strider7]

As someone that wants a new Batman Arkham style game more than any other game, I am worried.

 

[theclaw135]

Some good talent here. The sizable back catalog has much of Midway's and Monolith's output, and I believe a bit of weird stuff like Shinrei Jusatsushi Taromaru.

 

[Thicc Enigma]

Stay away Activision/EA.

I wouldn't mind the studios being split up between Sony and Microsoft.

 

[Chiggs]

Enter Microsoft.

 

[fersnake]

damm it i dont feel good thinking about this companies interested in buying the WB game studio, #notlikethis

 

[VAL0R]

Phil, please buy them and have NetherRealm make Killer Instinct 4. That's all.

 

[Goro Majima]

So Take Two is the least terrible option there?

EA has to be the absolute worst choice given their studio body count.

 

[theclaw135]

Criterion on San Francisco Rush could be pretty awesome.

 

[ThatOneGrunt]

Is there a reason why WB would even consider selling their game division? You guys hear anything? They've got some heavy hitters there as far studio talent and IP's go.

 

[EctoPrime]

It seems incredibly shortsighted by these giant media companies to dump the videogame division only to want that division rebuilt a few years later. Perhaps Disney will end up buying it.

 

[theclaw135]

They have a history of this. Time Warner bought Atari and dismantled it, re-emerged as Time Warner Interactive, then started up Warner Bros Interactive.
More or less how the story goes.

 

[SpartanN92]

AT&T is the worst out of all these companies lol y’all think Activision is evil

 

[jakinov]

Is there a reason why WB would even consider selling their game division? You guys hear anything? They've got some heavy hitters there as far studio talent and IP's go.

They probbaly want the money to do other stuff with it. They can likely still make money from licensing out LOTR and Batman to those studios without doing any heavy lifting or taking risk while they can go spend billions on other endeavours with more reward.

 

[quest]

Come on uncle Phil get bid in damn it. That be nice for my gamepass catalog!

 

[Agent_4Seven]

Well, if any of these these awful companies will actually buy WB gaming division, you can forget about good games cuz all of them will be dead right at the moment of purchase. MS and Sony needs to act fast to buy dev studios while they're still alive.

 

[eastwood333]

Watch Tencent come in with that Chinese cash

Or Activision will buy them and put every single studio working on COD. Even good ol Rocksteady

 

[Traxtech]

Sony or Microsoft need to take this bad boy.

 

[Infamy v1]

Sony needs to grab Rocksteady. Break that package deal into little pieces.

Fanboy mindsets are so primitive. That's literally not how any of this works. Yeah, let's spend 4+bil with the main intention of grabbing a studio worth less than what we paid for Insomniac (220m~). Sounds like a plan!

 

[Goro Majima]

If one of the big three were in the running then I’d want Microsoft to buy them. They’d be the most consumer friendly option since the games would also end up on PC (Maybe Gamepass too?).

 

[Knitted Knight]

Fanboy mindsets are so primitive. That's literally not how any of this works. Yeah, let's spend 4+bil with the main intention of grabbing a studio worth less than what we paid for Insomniac (220m~). Sounds like a plan!

"Break that package deal into little pieces".... get back to the drawing board.

 

[Dr.Brobotnik]

Am I the only one surprised that WB games is worth $4 billion?

 

[Knitted Knight]

Am I the only one surprised that WB games is worth $4 billion?

They're selling the studios not the IP's. They're asking high for sure. They may or may not throw in a sweetener like a "bundled" licensing deal if you buy for xx price. Meaning whichever publisher purchases those studios has the rights to making those games for a set amount of time - that be Batman, LOTR etc.

 

[Infamy v1]

"Break that package deal into little pieces".... get back to the drawing board.

You're proving my point. That's not how ANY of this works, lmao. Reads like wishful thinking from a clueless lickspittle.

 

[Cert.in.Death]

Watch Tencent or THQ Nordic swoop in and somehow pull off a deal.

 

[Infamy v1]

Watch Tencent or THQ Nordic swoop in and somehow pull off a deal.

THQ Nordic? No. Tencent's is a possibility, but this is right under EA/Acti alley.

 

[Majukun]

"Break that package deal into little pieces".... get back to the drawing board.

that's literally the last thing you wanna do.

if you have some highly valuable stuff and some less valuable one, gthe best way to sell is to bundle them up so that the value of the best stuff helps you sell the one with less market.

 

[Gediminas]

Sony, open the wallet. amazing studios and franchises.

Insomniac would kill with Batman!

 

[Cert.in.Death]

THQ Nordic? No. Tencent's is a possibility, but this is right under EA/Acti alley.

Sarcasm mate.

I suspect THQ Nordic is a laundering operation for South American cartels. Or they’re a front for more Chinese money to scoopup market control because who the f*ck knows from where they generated all their capital.

 

[gojira96]

Hey guys, I made the following consideration on a Reddit thread, I find pertinent to paste it here:

Well, if Microsoft or Sony step in, they have to do it soon.

For one, the release of the next generation consoles are imminent, and from 2021, most gamers/casual players will NEED to buy a new console to keep playing the lastest games. So they have a timeframe to make the acquisition and invest/retool the games already on the pipeline (Batman, MK DLC, Lego games) for the XSX/PS5.

Now, if either of them make the purchase, I really believe the games will remain multiplatform, at least for the ones close to launch - they really can't depend only on early adopters (specially if they cannot meet demand/low demand due to Covid-19) and restrict possible income. But as said above, I believe there is a timeframe for them to make it all work, eg:

• From 2020 (probable purchase of WB Games) to 2022: games remain multiplatform, multigenerational.
• 2022 onwards: console exclusivity (Sony), multiplatform (Microsoft)

I was really taken aback by the news, but should have expected it - AT&T are investing in the elusive Snyder Cut, among other WB/DC business decisions

Thoughts?

 

[nephilimdj]

Surely monolith can buy themselves out like IOI, love to see them self publish

I know they wouldn't get the rights to FEAR, Mordor and condemned.. but love to see them have creative freedom

 

[theclaw135]

Watch Tencent or THQ Nordic swoop in and somehow pull off a deal.

I could see THQ Nordic buying the oodles of neglected Midway games.

 

[oldergamer]

I could see THQ Nordic buying the oodles of neglected Midway games.

THQ nordic could never arrange 4 billion for a sale.

 

[theclaw135]

THQ nordic could never arrange 4 billion for a sale.

Heh, righto.

 

[oldergamer]

So it sounds now like the sale is actually 2 billion and not 4, and that MS is one of the possible companies doing due diligence on the purchase ( if certain twitter users are to be believed )

Apparently Microsoft is "Kicking the tires" regarding AT&T's WB deal. Which means they're looking into it to see if it's worth it. Microsoft would be a great choice.

This would be great to see if they could pull it off.

 

[lefty1117]

MS should snap it up and make Batman an xbox exclusive. Sony has spiderman, MS has Batman

 

[Clear]

The real moneymaker for WB games for years has been TT's Lego franchise. Unfortunately thanks to some catastrophically bad management mistakes the wheels have been well off that particular wagon for the last couple of years.

I'm kinda surprised that they've managed to keep a lid on this epic clusterfuck for so long, but anyone doing due diligence on buying WB is no doubt gonna spot how badly (and deeply) the rot has set in.

 

[theclaw135]

The Lego games are a difficult to botch formula, but that's the thing. They lack the variety they had before TT took the reins.