Guess they finally realized that a bunch of studios whose talent can easily leave are not worth much without the IP they use.
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Warner Bros. gaming division no longer being sold off (update: info from internal communications, likely a misread, sale still probably likely)
- Thread starter Wallace Wells
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the MK ip being included in the deal was always an assumption people made based on pretty much nothing. the fact that it's an IP that originated from video games doesn't change anything.
Who would buy Netherealm without MK? You'd be buying a studio that would be half a decade probably from releasing a game if they don't even come with an IP.
probably no one, but there was no indication that the MK ip was being sold off along with the WB games studios. it's still an IP that holds potential for licensing, merch, films, etc.
if they sell netherrealm, at most i can see it coming with an exclusive MK license for use in video games.
That sounds stupid. Their sources are the same than in the article saying MS was going to buy them too, it seems they're just sticking to their guns after that official update from the WB CEO.
After the layoffs they just had with more apparently coming I don't really trust AT&T to hold onto them.
Has the new Hoeg Law video on this situation not been posted in this thread yet? He's got a very different take on all of this.
Agreed. It's misinformation. No indication of WB games being off the table, just inferences from internal email, that is effectively saying restructuring is about to take place, expect layoffs. Didn't directly say anything about WB games.
Warner has been hit with alot of layoffs recently and none so far have been from WB Games. This would be a good indicator that a sale is still on. You wouldn't want to devalue a studio sale price by laying off some high ranking employees while you're shopping it around.
Sigh. This is so depressing. Not only are a ton of people losing their jobs, but WB Games is gonna get sold to some asshole company and MORE people will lose their jobs.
Which would you perfer, WB closes all of WB gaming Studios down (like Disney) or one of the others buys all or part of WB Studios who want to keep the studios intact? One or the other is goning to happen, there is no middle choice!
There is no good option for either of those. There's no company that could buy WB and not fuck things up royally.
The last thing the video game industry needs is Tencent having even more power than they already do.
ALL the biders are bad options... The best would be to sell studios for diff publishers.
WM isn't shutting down WBIE. It's either being sold or kept, and being kept is by far the best option.
Not sure MS will let EA have this one. MS already lost Bioware. I don't think MS wants to repeat those mistakes.
Yeah with what is happening at WB as a whole it's hard to imagine gaming will not be seriously affected. I say Hoeg is right and the sale is even more probable than before.
Its pretty clear if these efforts don't pay off layoffs will be next. Not sure dismantling WB Studios is any better than shutting them down.
No layoffs WM do will be as bad as the job losses if WBIE is sold to any of the most likely buyers.
That's a basic fact.
WB Games is very profitable so there's little to no risk of it being shut down. It's being sold BECAUSE it's so profitable and valuable - AT&T need a high sale value to pay down some debt.
I'm not surprised at the update. The email/memo read like damage control and basically saying "it's ok everyone, don't worry and keep working!" while not-so-secretly entertaining offers and probably going to be sold off still. To whom? Who knows. I just hope not EA. Plus, AT&T is trying to get rid of some of the debt they have and they don't really care about video games, just the bottom line.
I gotta wonder how the licensing agreements in this sale would work? It's smart of AT&T to keep all the IP so you gotta wonder how that affects the asking price.
Trying to sell Netherrealm without the Mortal Kombat IP is a big LOL.
"Hey, wanna pay $4 billion dollars for our studios, and let us retain ownership of 100% of their intellectual properties? What if we promise to let you pay us more to licence those properties from us?"
"Hey, wanna pay $4 billion dollars for our studios, and let us retain ownership of 100% of their intellectual properties? What if we promise to let you pay us more to licence those properties from us?"
Tencent would be worse than literally any other option. They're basically a tentacle of the Chinese gov't
Tencent would probably be the best option outside of WM keeping it. They would retain the most jobs.
Anyone would be interested in that. That gives you access to basically the 2 out of the 3 most popular superheroes in the world. I believe Superman is the most popular super hero in America currently. The potential is tempting.
User Banned (1 Month): Sinophobia
But it would be more Chinese ownership of the industry. That's a terrible thing.
Yeah, I'm more worried about actual people losing their jobs than xenophobia.
Everyone should hope WM keeps the unit. If you don't, your priorities are seriously messed up.
Excellent point. Yeah, it's probably happening, but it's going to take some time. Maybe we'll hear by the end of the year.
Yep, would be a huge get especially with Sony going all in on locking spiderman out.
historically, maybe. But he isn't even the best selling DC hero (and hasn't been for a while), and Marvel is currently much more popular than DC, so..