AT&amඣp;T is looking to sell its gaming division, Warner Bros. Interactive. The final selling price could be $4 billion. EA, Activision Blizzard, and Take-Two Interactive are interested in acquiring WB Interactive.
WB Interactive's studios include RockSteady Games, Netherrealm Studios, and TT Games, among other studios. WB Interactive is responsible for publishing hit games like the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Batman Arkham franchise, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Mortal Kombat, Injustice, and a plethora of Lego games. WB also has the rights to Lord Of The Rings, Harry Potter, and DC Comics.
AT&T acquired Time Warner for $109 billion in 2018, and with that deal,🉐 AT&T also received $165 billion in debt. With the company looking to get out of debt, selling off divisions make sense. Perhaps AT&T is taking the Disney approach to video ღgames and loaning out their IPs to capable developers.
It will be curious to see how Take-Two, EA, and Activision Blizzard would handle the acquisition of WB Interactive, considering most of the games put out by WB Interactive are Warner Brothers franchises. WB owns DC comics, but they don't entirely own the Lord Of The Rings and Harry Potter franchises. The Lego games also borrow from franchises outside of Warner Brothers. Any deal would have to include the rights to publish games based on the WB fꦯranchises.
There are rumors that WB Interactive was going to reveal the next 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Batman Arkham game, as well as the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Harry Potter RPG that leaked last year. WB also launched Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath, a story expans🅘i♏on that includes three new characters. If the rumors were true, WB was shaping up to have a great 2020. It seems like a weird move, considering that the video game industry is very profitable right now.
The acquisition of WB Interactive would also bring up concerns about annualizing franchises. EA and Activision Blizzard love to pump out their biggest titles every year. If one of these companies acquired WB Interactive, they might want to start pumping out yearly Mortal Kombat or DC games considering the hefty price tag on WB Interactive. It will be interesting to see where WB Interactive's studios end up, and what the future of franchises like Mortal Kombat and the Batman Arkham games.
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