Warner Bros. Interactive up for sale (NetherRealm, Avalanche & Rocksteady included)

[Foggy]

Perhaps a surprising bit of news, AT&T is putting Warner Bros. Interactive up for sale.

https://www.ign.com/articles/rockste...-mortal-kombat

AT&T is reportedly looking to sell the Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment gaming division, which includes studios like NetherRealm, Avalanche, and Rocksteady. The deal could be valued at $4 billion and there’s reported interest from companies like Take-Two, EA, and Activision Blizzard.

In a report from CNBC, telecom company AT&T, which purchased Warner Media in 2018, is looking to divest some assets to help pay off $200 billion in debt. This includes WB Interactive, which has already picked up interest from some of the game industry’s largest companies. Though sources say a deal is neither in place nor imminent.

Any company that does purchase WB Interactive will not gain the rights to IP like Batman or Harry Potter, which is owned by Warner Bros. Instead, any deal will likely include a “commercial licensing agreement where AT&T can continue to get revenue from its IP.”

A potential purchase will, however, include studios that belong to WB Interactive like NetherRealm and Rocksteady, the developers behind Mortal Kombat, and the Batman Arkham series respectively.

AT&T purchased Time Warner for $109 billion in 2018 and amassed $200 billion in debt. Investors have called on AT&T to sell “non-core assets” such as DirecTV and, now, WB Interactive.

There are multiple projects rumored to be in development under Warner Bros. Interactive including a new game from Rocksteady, and a new Harry Potter RPG. There’s also a new Batman game in the works at WB Montreal.

Quite surprising considering the number rumoured huge titles on the horizon for the studio, wonder what this will mean for those titles and the studios themselves moving forward.