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Newest interview with Jason Kilar (Warner Media CEO) implies their gaming sector might be staying with them

Dust

Dust

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Oct 25, 2017
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Already being discussed in the sell out topic, but I think it warrants a new thread.

deadline.com

WarnerMedia’s Jason Kilar On New Structure, Layoffs & Future Of HBO Max, Theatrical Distribution & Linear TV

WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar shook up the top ranks at the AT&T-owned media company today, consolidating all film, TV and streaming content under Warner Bros.’ Ann Sarnoff. The sweeping restructuring includes expanded responsibilities for HBO Max’s Andy Forssell and HBO’s Casey Bloys and the exit...
deadline.com deadline.com

Talking about global expansion and investment he said this.

"I think their ceiling is so high, and I'm very, very much a believer in news and information around the globe," he said. "And frankly, we have the best brand in the world in CNN when we look at website traffic and the power of the brand. Also, we have a very strong interactive team of about 2,000 software developers that tell interactive stories; the opportunity to go global with that is very, very big as well."
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Maybe they reconsidered due to the COVID world where video games engagement thrives, doesn't sound like they want to get rid of it.
 
YaBish

YaBish

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Oct 27, 2017
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Hmm... reads more to me like a pitch to buyers. But in any case I hope they keep them
 
Kill3r7

Kill3r7

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Oct 25, 2017
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AKA no one is willing to meet our asking price/valuation. So we will sit tight.
 
AuthenticM

AuthenticM

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Hopefully that is the case. Enough with the consolidations already.
 

Raigor

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May 14, 2020
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Good.

We need more publishers, not less.

WB Interactive with Harry Potter RPG, Back 4 Blood, IOI New IP, Cyberpunk publishing, Batman Gotham Nights, Lego series, Suicide Squad, NRS fighting games and Monolith new IP is going to make some good money in the upcoming 2-4 years.
 
Bessy67

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Oct 29, 2017
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Maybe, but isn't it AT&T that is rumored to want to sell it off? Wouldn't be surprised if Warner themselves want to keep it around but I doubt they get final say.
 
entremet

entremet

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I think Disney made a mistake selling their gaming division personally. Look at their struggles today. Too much reliance on parks and movies.
 
Kolx

Kolx

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Good. None of the rumored companies sounded good. Publishers should stay independent if they can.
 

Deleted member 10737

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good news if they plan to keep the gaming division, but that quote doesn't really mean they don't want to sell.
 
That1GoodHunter

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For all that is holy, I hope that Harry Potter, Batman, or Suicide Squad are right around the corner and WB/AT&T get good enough results to reconsider
 
entremet

entremet

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Kill3r7 said:
They determined they weren't good at it and feel comfortable licensing their IPs. That's where the real value is in anyhow.
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Yeah, I remembered, and a pandemic was a pretty big white swan*, but the perfect one to affect all of Disney's key businesses.

*Not a black swan since we knew a pandemic was coming for a long time. No one prepared.
 
Juan29.Zapata

Juan29.Zapata

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Oct 25, 2017
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Hope they do stick with them.

entremet said:
I think Disney made a mistake selling their gaming division personally. Look at their struggles today. Too much reliance on parks and movies.
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This makes me wonder if they are kicking themselves in the butt for not growing their game development studios, considering how much revenue gaming has taken in during the pandemic.

Specially considering some of the franchises they licensed have been mismanaged for the most part.
 
Minthara

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I'm all for the path that keeps the jobs of the maximum amount of people, and this is it.

Warner Brothers Games was always a rough sell anyways since it was just a lot of developers and very little IP.
 
ElBoxy

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Raigor said:
Good.

We need more publishers, not less.

WB Interactive with Harry Potter RPG, Back 4 Blood, IOI New IP, Cyberpunk publishing, Batman Gotham Nights, Lego series, Suicide Squad, NRS fighting games and Monolith new IP is going to make some good money in the upcoming 2-4 years.
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The games have always sold, but the debt keeps growing.
 
Kill3r7

Kill3r7

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entremet said:
Yeah, I remembered, and a pandemic was a pretty big white swan*, but the perfect one to affect all of Disney's key businesses.

*Not a black swan since we knew a pandemic was coming for a long time. No one prepared.
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Also, we tend to ignore the struggles/delays during the development cycle. It's been a minute since Rocksteady released a game.
 
Sento

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lxud_giphy_(1).gif
 
entremet

entremet

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Kill3r7 said:
Also, we tend to ignore the struggles/delays during the development cycle. It's been a minute since Rocksteady has released a game.
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I personally think should've downsized, not completely get out of gaming. Gaming is a big growth sector overall.
 

ninezeroone

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Oct 27, 2017
296
Are you sure this is referring to WB Games? Seems like the context is around CNN. Interactive stories can also mean interactive news stories in a browser. Is WB Games even under WarnerMedia?

Edit: Looks like WB Games does fall under WarnerMedia
 
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riotous

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There is absolutely no such indication.

He's hyping the division; it could be meaningless.. or literally COULD indicate the opposite of what you are thinking. He could be selling the brand to perspective buyers.
 
defaltoption

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I don't get that after reading it but I'd prefer that anyway. The only buyers I'd even be okay with are MS or Sony and it wasn't likely to be them anyway.
 
Kill3r7

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entremet said:
I personally think should've downsized, not completely get out of gaming. Gaming is a big growth sector overall.
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Agreed in part but it seems to me that modern Disney prefers to acquire successful businesses if they want to enter a sector they lack expertise in. If they thought gaming was lucrative, they could acquire any third party publisher including EA and Activision.
 
DominicanGlory

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I know most people will scoff at the notion, but the best case scenario for them being purchased is Activision. Activision gets a bad wrap but they've really upped their game this gen and are a no-frills "here's what people want and we're gonna give it to them" company.

CoD is huge right now.
Spyro and Crash revivals are financial and critical hits.
Sekiro was a game we'd NEVER thought would come from them.
Tony Hawk looking to return to form.

They're on a hot streak and I honestly think Netherealm, RS Monolith and WBM would thrive under them.
 
2shd

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DominicanGlory said:
I know most people will scoff at the notion, but the best case scenario for them being purchased is Activision. Activision gets a bad wrap but they've really upped their game this gen and are a no-frills "here's what people want and we're gonna give it to them" company.

CoD is huge right now.
Spyro and Crash revivals are financial and critical hits.
Sekiro was a game we'd NEVER thought would come from them.
Tony Hawk looking to return to form.

They're on a hot streak and I honestly think Netherealm, RS Monolith and WBM would thrive under them.
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They also laid of 800 people just as they announced record profits and their exec got massive bonuses. They may publish large-selling video games, but as a company they are gross.

WB staying put is probably the best case.
 
Bus-TEE

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As I mentioned in the other thread when I bumped it AT&T were also considering selling CrunchyRoll but when Kilar came in to take over WarnerMedia he said that he wanted to keep the platform as it formed part of his expansion plans. It's entirely possible that the same is true of WB Games.

Thanatos said:
I'm all for the path that keeps the jobs of the maximum amount of people, and this is it.

Warner Brothers Games was always a rough sell anyways since it was just a lot of developers and very little IP.
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Yup. Any possible M&A deal starts to get overly complicated when you're potentially offering Netherrealm Studios and Rocksteady for sale at a premium but not the IPs that they are most famous for.

riotous said:
There is absolutely no such indication.

He's hyping the division; it could be meaningless.. or literally COULD indicate the opposite of what you are thinking. He could be selling the brand to perspective buyers.
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You do understand WarnerMedia isn't just Jason Kilar and an intern working out of a PortaCabin? He's the head of the company, he wouldn't be selling anything himself and he certainly wouldn't be doing a sales pitch in an interview in Deadline where's he talking about the direction he's taking the company. AT&T hired a third party company to sell if there were any potential buyers out there, it wasn't WarnerMedia themselves.

Can I say definitively that they won't sell the WB Games division? No. But all we can go on is his own words in this interview and it seems like he has plans for the division.
 
tapedeck

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Reading the quote, it doesn't sound like they aren't willing to sell..maybe just that the IP would be included.
 
riotous

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Bus-TEE said:
You do understand WarnerMedia isn't just Jason Kilar and an intern working out of a PortaCabin? He's the head of the company, he wouldn't be selling anything himself and he certainly wouldn't be doing a sales pitch in an interview in Deadline where's he talking about the direction he's taking the company. AT&T hired a third party company to sell if there were any potential buyers out there, it wasn't WarnerMedia themselves.

Can I say definitively that they won't sell the WB Games division? No. But all we can go on is his own words in this interview and it seems like he has plans for the division.
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You understand I wasn't being literal and suggesting he was using the magazine to literally give a sales pitch for the company, and literally use it as a literal avenue for literal sales?

And if you want to take statements so literally. Notice how he actually doesn't say he wants to take it global, or that there are plans to take it global? He says "the opportunity to go global". Now, I'm not even suggesting you should read too much into the wording.. but he actually doesn't say they have plans to do that.
 
DrDeckard

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I hope it stays the way it is. We need more competition not less, and more multiplatform games.
 
IIFloodyII

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When we heard the licenses aren't even guaranteed I expected as much, no one is paying that much just for the studios and maybe some of the licenses and Midway I.Ps that aren't MK. Be for the best if so.
 
VinFTW

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Best case scenario is if they keep it and give it the justice it deserves.

No lost jobs with the publishing sector, and those great studios continue to deliver good games.
 
Damn Silly

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I wouldn't say that's definitive on the selling one way or the other, but staying as is would be the preferred option. No job losses and selfishly I'm not sure I'd personally like the influence three of the four supposed bidders (EA, Acti and 2K) might have on any future games.
 
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