Netflix Didn't 'Attribute Any Value' To Warner Bros. Games As Part Of WB Takeover Bid

Obviously if the deal goes through the gaming division and all the ip,s will be sold off!

As I said on PS, they'll all be broken up, sold off and shut down then.

That does not bode well for future games in the franchises that go with the deal. It also suggests that they will be sold off cheaply without any understanding for their value. Tis a real shame because we know what will happen; they will either be shut down, sold off and shut down, or sold off and some pretty poor games made as a consequence...

@Fiendish-Beaver

If these companies don't see any real value in the modern games industry then that speaks volumes about the state of things, particularly AAA.
There was a point when the video game industry was seemingly unstoppable, now it seems more like a runaway train hurtling towards that destroyed bridge over a chasm of certain death.

I think there is still a lot of quality coming in game form, @BrownOwl, it's just not necessarily coming from those with a proven past track record. It just seems that the bigger companies have become complacent, and the smaller companies have stepped in to fill the void. Next year certainly seems to have enough games of interest to me to keep me entertained, and I only like AAA games, and the bigger AA games...

@Fiendish-Beaver

Quality/Quantity isn't the problem, it's the direction and delivery that's the issue.
The indie sector has certainly stepped up (some of my favourite recent games are indies) but is it enough to sustain the market long term? In fact indies, particularly of the rogue-like nature, are swamping the market. There is the case for "too much of a good thing" before the bubble bursts.

That being said perhaps a little crash and burn will do the games industry some good?

@Chip-Douglas that's the thing. Most of the WB Games IPs aren't game IPs, they're media IPs. So if Netflix sells the game studios, there's no way they're going to let Harry Potter, DC, Mortal Kombat go with them; Harry Potter especially is way too lucrative to let that happen. And on the flipside, who's going to buy these studios if they're not getting the IPs along with them?

If you take a look at the video that PlayStation posted about games coming in 2026, @BrownOwl, there are still a lot of interesting games coming next year alone.

For me, from that video alone:

Marvel's Wolverine
Resident Evil Requiem
Halo: Campaign Evolved
Saros
007 First Light
Nioh 3
Onimusha: Way of the Sword
Crimson Desert
The Blood of Dawnwalker
Pragmata

I am primarily an Xbox gamer, and will only play those games that are exclusive to Sony on my PS5 (as an example, I have only played 2 games on my PS5 this entire year), all other third-party games I shall play on my Xbox. And all the above games are before the other games that Xbox will be releasing, such as Gears of War: E-Day, Forza Horizon 6, etc.. So I think it is safe to say that there are still a good number of quality games to come next year alone...

@Markatron84 Yes but they aren't going to hold them hostage if a gaming company comes in to make a game out of the ip because that's just profit for ownership of the ip.
I'd definitely expect them to keep full ownership of anything they would be making films or TV shows out of.
Disney have ownership of wolverine but Sony and naughty dog are making a game about that ip

@Fiendish-Beaver

I'm not disputing that games aren't being released and that more are in the pipeline, read my above comment again please.

As I said, quantity isn't the problem it's the direction that's the issue. Something is terribly wrong because regardless of how many (so called) quality games are out there they're just not selling in the kind of numbers that justify the cost of development. Yes we can aim our sights at subscription models, the rising cost of buying video games outright and the rising costs of hardware, but there's also the economic crisis (especially in the UK where people are forced to choose between heating and food on the table), and so on. However, what is the industry doing to tackle all this? Seems very little is the answer and as such it's seemingly hurtling toward an unhappy ending.

@Chip-Douglas that is true. I just think that if someone is looking to buy, say, NetherRealm, is it worth going through the process of buying it when you don't even get the Mortal Kombat IP with it and any future games need to be licenced out because Netflix needs its cut? At that point you're just buying a building and people and you might as well just spin up a new studio.

@Markatron84 Hopefully it will be sorted out somehow it would be millions upon millions of potential profit just wasted!

Isn't gaming bigger than films music etc even put together?

@Chip-Douglas Yeah, I hope so too. The problem is that most companies would rather sit on IP and do nothing with them rather than sell them to another company who might make money from them.

A perfect example of what I'm talking about is Microsoft's handling of The Initiative and Perfect Dark. Take Two wanted to buy it up and continue development, but rather than sell the studio and IP to Take Two, Microsoft would rather hang onto the IP and shut the studio down. And without the IP, there was no point in buying The Initiative and Take Two just spun up a new studio with two of the former higher-ups.

@Markatron84 A sad stat of affairs alright very selfish for no real reason!

I did understand what you were getting at, @BrownOwl, but what I would say is that the state of the industry is open to subjection. Personally, I have no problem finding games that I want to play, and it is a few years since I did not finish a game having not enjoyed it, and I play somewhere between 6 and 8 hours a day on average, and do not play multiplayer games. Therefore I would suggest I am pretty happy with things as they are. Would I prefer it if games cost less? Of course I would! Would it be better if games cost less to make? Absolutely! However, we are where we are in that regard, and there's no two ways about it, if you cut the costs in development, you are also likely to lessen the scope of a game. Trim enough off a games developmental costs and a AAA game becomes a AA game. That's not to say it won't be good, but you will likely lessen the overall quality of the game, and pull the reigns too tight and you will see developers becoming risk adverse meaning that games will become more generic, something that gamers are apt to point out and then avoid.

I cannot give you solutions, only point out problems and the wider ramifications of any changes that could be made.

What I will say is that anyone looking at the list of games I mentioned above may say that none of the games that are on there appeal to them in the slightest. However, I do not play all the smaller games that appear on Game Pass, and I am often seen to be saying they do not interest me, though if you read through the comments, there are usually many who do express interest in them. My point is, the state of the industry is subjective for us as gamers. I often see people talking about games that are 10 years plus old, and yet I find difficulty enjoying older games because I like my games to be modern, and yes, I know these games are perfectly fine, but I've been a gamer since I played Pong in the Summer of 1972 as a 9 year old, and I can say with absolute certainty that gamers have been bemoaning the state of the games industry for decades upon decades...

@Fiendish-Beaver

I'm looking at the industry in a wider perspective as opposed to just how it effects me on a personal level. My point is, if things do go south then the industry needs to seriously ask itself as to why.

"I often see people talking about games that are 10 years plus old, and yet I find difficulty enjoying older games because I like my games to be modern"

I'm in the first camp, same with music and film.

I only tend to watch my favourite old films, @BrownOwl, when they release a 4k version of the film, as my actual preference is for the more modern films and television shows.

As someone that lived through the whole 80s music scene, I do occasionally return to my old music, but again, my preference is for more modern music. Even now, as I type this, I am listening to Radio One, a music station I have been listening to since the early 70s when I got my first radio one Christmas. Indeed, I have only ever listened to Radio One, and it's crazy to think that I have been doing so for over 50 years. So, despite the fact that I will be 62 in just over a week, I have very modern music tastes.

So I think with my preference for modern games too, I could easily be described as having very current tastes in pretty much everything...

@Fiendish-Beaver

So we're around the same generation my good man. 😊 (53 my end).

I do obviously enjoy modern entertainment, but I do prefer the classics. However, I'm no stick in the mud, so to speak.

Music wise I'm a die-hard metal and rock fan, but, unlike a few friends of mine, I like to branch out as I feel sticking to just one genre is narrow-minded. I particularly love my 80s pop and 90s hip-hop.

My youngest daughter (16) has, (with no pressure on my part I hasten to add!), followed in my footsteps music wise. We enjoy going to record fares together on the hunt for vinyl, new and old. Next year we're seeing Metallica in Cardiff as her birthday present. (Don't ask how much the tickets cost me!).

She's even taken to dragging her mother to gigs. Surprisingly her mum is now into a selection of rock bands and likes a bit of Metallica. I wasn't allowed to play them in the car until my daughter got into them! 😂

My eldest (19) is an anime fan so is into all that K-pop/metal and J-Pop/metal. Some of it is quite good fun, yet completely bonkers. I recently saw Hanabie with her, which is a Metal Harajuku-core outfit. They put on a really good show. It's through her I wound up purchasing two Baby Metal albums - their first and most recent.

Films? I'll give pretty much anything a watch and have amassed a physical collection that would make HMV's stock room blush!

So yes, I have my preferences for music, film and video games, but I'm very open minded.

I'm going call baloney on this one.

Netflix really wants a gaming presence. This would solidify that. Truly believe he is downplaying with that statement.

@GuyinPA75

That's an entirely possible scenario. Downplaying their importance just incase things go belly up.

I'm in the same boat when it comes to films, @BrownOwl. I like to buy all mine physically, and I have probably close to a 1000 all told, many of which I am slowly upgrading to 4K. Funny thing is, I used to buy my films on video, and when DVDs became a thing, I upgraded my collection to DVD, and then when Blu-Rays appeared, I only bought Blu-Rays, and upgraded my favourite films once more. Now I'm going through the whole process again and buying my favourites in 4k. Indeed, only today I bought A Knight's Tale on 4k, which I have had to import from Germany, yet I have bought that film at least 3 times now.

Without counting my collection, I would estimate that I have around 200 4k films, 800 Blu-rays, and probably 300 DVDs, though most of the DVDs are in boxes now.

Funny thing is, I love the convenience of digital, and so pretty much only buy digital games, and have all but given up buying music instead choosing to stream what I listen to, although invariably I listen to Radio One for 4 or 5 hours a day. I have no idea why I still prefer to buy my films physically, but to this day I have never bought one digitally...