That's literally what I was saying. A deal would include exclusive rights to make games based on the IPs, not giving EA the Batman IP all together. That would never happen.
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CNBC: AT&T seeking sale for Warner Bros. gaming unit, could fetch about $4 billion
- Thread starter kennyamr
- Start date
That's literally what I was saying. A deal would include exclusive rights to make games based on the IPs, not giving EA the Batman IP all together. That would never happen.
No way to know. A current publisher buying them, someone new doing it, AT&T keeping them, and the company being broken up and sold for parts are all possible at this point.
I don't think doing LOTR would be smart moving forward with the IP being used by other groups. Too much risk to have the IP damaged by another developer.
Only Batman in DC has seen any success. Just because one worked is no guarantee that another would. That too is a lot of risk.
That's the issue here.
is it going to be a perpetual exclusive licensing agreement? or does AT&T have the power not to renew or outright cancel the licensing agreement some time in the future?
Does the buyer have the right to use every WB IP past, present, and future?
Forking 4 billion over these variables is just absurd.
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If MS went in its not for IP. It'd be for the technical skills within studios. Rocksteady alone would be a perfect fit. They excel at games Xbox needs to add to their stable.
Eh, even though Tencent can afford to do it, do you really think they would? Their entire video game model is based almost entirely on the GaaS model. Have they shown a major interest in games outside of that bubble?
They can still be GAAS and still have a subsidiary that makes and publishes games. They gave Platinum a lot of money and I don't recall Platinum wanting to do GAAS.
They've invested and have minor holdings in non-GaaS entities. But there's a massive difference between investing in an independent entity, and spending $4+ billion dollars on a massive entity and then having to maintain / run it.
This comes from someone with connections to WB Film and Television Departments. It looks like Microsoft might be interested.
DC alone would be worth a hefty price, but throwing in Mortal Kombat, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and the near limitless amount of IP that WB owns it surely is a big deciding factor. That could help boost their exclusive count exponentially.
Why would you imagine that these variables wouldn't be clarified in a letter of intent?
Yeah. Probably saw how many people were thinking it had a deeper meaning.
No one with any actual insider knowledge of M&A teases anything with their name attached.
Bruh go look at his tweets. He leaks WB TV shit all the time. He writes full on articles about it. There's people who literally dedicate their lives to leaking stuff like this.
I jumped to the end of the thread, but am I right in assuming it comes down to the following (already in the industry) in terms of "having the money" and "leveraging the talent"?:
Zenimax
Tencent
EA
Ubisoft
Activision
Sony
MS
Apple
Amazon
Google
Unless, of course, studios are sold off individually. I couldn't see WB packaging their IP (because why when they can licence stuff out to anyone after the fact, a la Disney). Tencent, Amazon, and Google make the most business sense to buy outright.
Zenimax
Tencent
EA
Ubisoft
Activision
Sony
MS
Apple
Amazon
Unless, of course, studios are sold off individually. I couldn't see WB packaging their IP (because why when they can licence stuff out to anyone after the fact, a la Disney). Tencent, Amazon, and Google make the most business sense to buy outright.
Reporters are not corporate development people or bankers; this stuff is kept under *much* closer wraps than the likes of content leaks.
These are the same people who said Disney was buying Fox way before it happened. The same people who knew Disney was buying LucasArts. The same people who knew WB was gonna start selling off some shit to offset their debt. You're telling me they now wouldn't be able to find out who wants to buy WB Games? Come on, son.
Whereas I've been on tons of deals where people continuously guess wrong based on nothing; where people have gotten fired for even hinting out of department; where lucky guesses get touted as prescience; he might have a source which has a sense, which does not make him someone with direct insider exposure but rather secondhand, so yeah, I'll take my skepticism based on experience vs some coy tweets. Like, at minimum you'd want to check with legal for more than a day prior to writing an article, not start leaving cute breadcrumbs on Twitter.
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Rocksteady and NetherRealm would be great gets for Sony. They need a studio capable of great fighting games and Rocksteady would thrive with Sony backing.
They've partnered with Sony for marketing before so maybe they have a good working relationship. Regardless I hope they're given creative freedom under any publisher and we see more releases from them...they're such a talented studio.
He said on Twitter that the Batman game will not be cancelled. What do you think?
Sheeeeiiiiitttt hopefully not! It ain't coming out until next year, and who knows what could happen between now and then. If someone buys them up I don't see why they would cancel it tho
Just remember.... WB bought the Mortal Kombat team and IP for $33M during the financial crisis. Get money
Wow that's a steal! They've made the money back 10 times over.
2 billion for Rocksteady and Netherrealm ALONE?
Anyone that can swing the money should get in on this
Hmmm, $2B is actually much, much better value. If someone has spare cash they should consider.
No.
$2 billion for the studios would start to make a lot more sense for current publishers.
Which is bad news for a lot of people :-/
Let me get this straight you are saying that you are hearing that ms are taking a look into buying WB games. Sorry if I am wrong, just want to be sure.
It was $33m for all of the Midway assets they bought including MK and NR. It was a steal.
I would go as far as saying that $2B for
-MK with NRS
-Rocksteady
-few near completion games ready to be published (Harry Potter, Batman)
-rest of studios
is pretty good.
Still, I don't think MS or Sony are interested in the whole package. They have plenty of venues they need to invest in already, don't need suddenly more on the platter.
But I can see now definitely a bidding war between EA/Activison and Tencent.
Please be Take-Two Interactive, the thought of Activision or EA acquiring these studios makes me vomit.
I would unironically love this idea. It would be the least disruptive shift for Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.
I would unironically love this idea. It would be the least disruptive shift for Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.