Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment may be going up for sale

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, WB’s gaming division, is rumoured to be going under the hammer soon. According to a report by CNBC, AT&T, WB’s parent company, is seeking to sell off the gaming division for around $4 billion. AT&T has been looking to sell many of its assets to settle its nearly $200 billion debt.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has been responsible for many video games based on Warner Bros. properties, including the Batman: Arkham series, the Middle-Earth games and the Mortal Kombat franchise, among others. According to CNBC’s sources, prospective buyers include Electronic Arts, Activision Blizzard and Take-Two Interactive Software. As the deal is still ongoing, no party has publicly confirmed that the sale is going ahead so far.

AT&T originally acquired Time Warner for $109 billion in a deal that closed in 2018. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has focused on developing games based on intellectual property that Warner Bros owns, so it is unclear what the sale would mean for the future of those franchises if it goes ahead. It is likely that such a sale would work out an IP ownership deal to ensure more Middle-Earth and DC Comics games can be developed. If not, however, it could mean that studios like Monolith, Rocksteady and Netherrealm may be locked out of WB’s properties.

As with many corporate transactions, it is likely we won’t hear much about the sale publicly until it is finalised. At least the sale should not endanger projects currently in the works, such as Middle-Earth: Gollum.