Warner Bros. Discovery has just reported one of its worst financial quarters ever, thanks to a variety of failures in its TV, film, and games divisions, including a reported USD $9.1 billion write-down of its TV assets. Earlier in the week, it was reported that the company was looking to sell off its smaller assets, including a stake in its video games business, to help reverse this fortune.
Now, CEO David Zaslav and JB Perrette, president of global streaming and games, have spoken more about the company’s plans, and a potential new avenue in the form of licensing its intellectual property to more external video game studios. As first reported by IGN, WBD is currently exploring opportunities in licensing IP like Harry Potter, Batman, or Superman, to other studios who have expressed interest in developing new games adapting these worlds.
“We’ll create a movie, whether it’s Batman or Superman or Harry Potter, and maybe there’ll be a TV show, but the ability to go in that world and have that experience of spending time with all the characters is something that we still own,” Zaslav said.
“We have 11 studios here, and we have a lot of IP. And there’s also a lot of interest among others in coming to take advantage of some of that IP for gaming, which we’re looking at. Because as JB said, we need to get bigger, and the IP that we own and the value that it has in the gaming space is something we’re looking to take advantage of.”
Read: WB Discovery reportedly looking to sell stake in its video games business
Hogwarts Legacy was again used as an example of the success that video games can bring for Warner Bros. Discovery, with Zaslav explaining that games present a new opportunity for franchise fans to explore their favourite properties in much deeper fashion. Hogwarts Legacy was a notable success for the company in 2023, as you “entered the game and you were able to become part of that world.” Perhaps most significantly, Hogwarts Legacy is an adventure-focussed single player title that presents a novel experience for fans of Harry Potter, while expanding the story of the Wizarding World.
On the other hand, 2024’s live service, mission-based game Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, was a major failure, and contributed to a USD $200 million revenue loss for WBD. While this was attributed to the “hit-driven nature of some of that business,” Perrette also implied it was the growth of the free-to-play space that contributed to its “disappointing” performance. Going forward, the company will explore more opportunities within this space, while also focussing on making “great games.”
While WBD did recently acquire MultiVersus developer Player First Games to continue building its free-to-play offerings, the company is also now looking to expand further with a renewed push to license IP to talented studios with the capacity to create memorable games.
For now, it appears WBD maintains faith in the strength of its games division, and that it will implement a range of fresh tactics to continue growing this segment of its business.
