Warner Bros. Interactive’s studios are reportedly up for sale, with PlayStation and Xbox also rumoured to be interested…

The merger between Discovery and WarnerMedia was officially completed in early April, creating Warner Bros. Discovery. Warner Bros. Interactive game studios were largely left alone during the union, with only Playdemic being sold to EA in June 2021. Now that the merger is complete and Warner Bros. Discovery is being reorganised, it appears that Warner Bros. Interactive studios have changed. A report claims that Warner Bros. Discovery is already selling its studios to interested parties, including PlayStation and Xbox.

Imran Khan has reportedly heard “decent chatter” about WB Discovery’s new plans.

The report comes from Fanbyte Media’s Imran Khan, who says he is “hearing a decent bit of chatter” about WB Discovery’s new plans. Khan explains that WB Discovery is making the rounds of its game studios. Warner Bros. Interactive’s list of studios currently includes Hogwarts Legacy Studios, Avalanche Software, the developer of Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, Monolith Productions, Mortal Kombat developer NetherRealm Studios, Batman: Arkham and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League studios, Rocksteady Studios, as well as TT Games and WB studios in Montreal, Boston, New York, San Diego and San Francisco.

One detail Khan points out is that WB Discovery is specifically considering selling its game studios, not its intellectual property. In other words, WB Discovery wants to sell Rocksteady and license the rights to Batman and Suicide Squad, intends to sell Avalanche and license Harry Potter, and may wish to sell NetherRealm while retaining and licensing Mortal Kombat.

Microsoft and Sony are also on the list, which is not surprising as both are buying studios for Xbox and PlayStation in a frenzy, respectively.

Not surprisingly, the potential acquisition of one of WB Discovery’s game studios has already attracted much interest: the list is quite long, and Khan has shared it online. Both Microsoft and Sony are on it, which is not surprising given that both are aggressively buying studios for Xbox and PlayStation, respectively. Other interested parties include Electronic Arts, Netease, Take-Two, Tencent and even PUBG Corp. Needless to say, if Warner Bros. Discovery does indeed sell its studios, it can expect some serious offers.

What is not yet known is whether Warner Bros. Discovery will be willing to break up its studios. If it wanted to, Warner Bros. Interactive could likely sell its entire umbrella, including all its studios. Or they could sell their studios in parts, one to PlayStation, one to Xbox, etc. They could even keep some studios.

One thing is worth clarifying: Khan leaves some ambiguity in his WB Discovery report on game studios. He’s confident enough to share what he’s heard on Twitter but says he hasn’t been able to get confirmation that would allow him to declare anything with absolute certainty. Khan, however, would not share it at all if he wasn’t confident enough. Warner Bros. Discovery Studios’ sale is expected to be further reported in the future.

Source: Vandal

Interested parties include EA, Take-Two, Microsoft, Sony, Tencent, Netease, and PUBG Corp. WBD wants to sell studios and license IP, supposedly.

— Imran Khan (@imranzomg) April 29, 2022