Microsoft Interested in Acquiring Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, According to Report - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 01 August 2020 / 2,991 Views
Microsoft has shown interest in acquiring Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, according to a report on The Information, who cited people familiar with the matter. Other interested video game companies includes Take-Two Interactive Software, Electronic Arts and Activision Blizzard.
Warner Bros. parent company AT&T has not decided if it wants to sell the Warner Bros. gaming division. However, it is looking into it as a way to day down the $154 billion in debt.
This is the second time we have heard about AT&T looking to sell off its gaming division Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, however, it is the first time Microsoft has been mentioned.
Many of the games developed by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment are tied to intellectual properties owned by Warner Bros. A deal might involve a commercial licensing agreement, so the gaming division can keep using the Warner Bros.-owned IP. It would mean AT&T can earn revenue from those IP.
AT&T in 2018 acquired Time Warner for $109 billion, which included Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. AT&T and Take-Two spokespeople declined to comment, and spokespeople at EA and Activision have not commented.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
More Articles
Would be great for the xbox brand.
Although Im a sony guy, competition is extremely important in any business and the worst thing that could happen is for sony to reign absolute in gaming,
This is the opposite of competitive.
I personally would prefer if one of the big players (Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo) wouldn't be the ones to buy into companies like this. Having huge franchises (like MK, Batman, etc) become the sole property of one of those and thus being exclusive to their system just kicks gamers who prefer the other platforms in the head. I'd like to keep seeing everyone have a chance to enjoy these titles instead of a select group.
Exactly. I also dislike how Microsoft feels the need to try and force themselves on everybody and everything by swallowing up everything.
The proper response to “Xbox has no games” would be to build their own franchises from the ground up, as Nintendo and Sony have done, as opposed to buying up half of the game industry for the purpose of cock-blocking Nintendo and Sony.
The proper response to “Xbox has no games” would be to build their own franchises from the ground up, as Nintendo and Sony have done, as opposed to buying up half of the game industry for the purpose of cock-blocking Nintendo and Sony.
The proper response to “Xbox has no games” would be to build their own franchises from the ground up, as Nintendo and Sony have done, as opposed to buying up half of the game industry for the purpose of cock-blocking Nintendo and Sony.
That would be huge for MS. They would get big IPs and notable studios. New Batman, Mortal Kombat 12, Injustice 3, Just Cause 4. Some of those studios could potentially make great games with MS IPs as well.
Batmobile Kinect CONFIRMED!
Oh FUCK no.
I agree Take-Two is greedy, but they make some of the best single player experiences ever, Rdr2 Gta v etc and only the multiplayer is monetized (as far as i know) so i would rather they acquire the studios. They put a lot of effort into the single player experience!
Apparently only development studios will go on sale not the IPs which honestly sounds even better. Monolith and Rocksteady shouldn't be restricted to movie licenses and I would gladly see new original IPs from them. No new MK would be a shame but we have already 11 of them and it would be cool to see a true next-gen sequel to Killer Instinct from Netherrealm.
well MS releases their games on PC too.
Good question. I never knew that AT&T were this debt-ridden :|
Most likely due to their acquisition of warnermedia
They've also been spending a billion here, a few billion there, every few years acquiring smaller cellular companies. It's also kind of like housing mortgage market where mass debt leads to inflating asset prices, which leads to higher debt to acquire those assets. Governments have used dirt cheap interests floating around 0% (for connected banks and large corporations) on the theory it promotes growth, except when there already is an excess of investment capital and not enough strong return prospects for it all, that doesn't really work. But anyways, AT&T is rated A- so taking out debt and "investing" it (i.e. shuffling asset from one owner to another, not creating new business, generally towards larger conglomerates yielding less competition) is pretty much what is expected from that financial situation.
Anyways, everybody approaches this assuming either MS or Sony would take it all exclusive to the extent they can (contracts could speciify otherwise in some cases, and involve other parties besides AT&T). In MS' case that requires paying for losing 2/3 of full power console market, because as existing 3rd party properties being bid on by 3rd party publishers that is the basis for valuing the property. I honestly see the trend for BOTH MS and Sony to be away from console exclusivity, not that they must drop console exclusivity 100% everywhere, but just being open to some properties being more open... certainly on PC (already 100% for MS, but I see Sony going there too) but even multi-console. The consoles positions isn't really that competitive or variable overall so that isn't a worry, so why spend to try to play that game? MS' game store for PC kind of turned out miserable, but I see Sony also being interested in that space on PC, although partnering with existing distributor and/or content partners would be way to go and reduce risk / quickly achieve market "weight" (size).
Essay Pro