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Warner Bros. Games

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This article is about the division created in 2004. For the former division, seeTime Warner Interactive.

Warner Bros. Games
FormerlyWarner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (2004–2021)
Company typeDivision
IndustryVideo games
FoundedJanuary 14, 2004;20 years ago(2004-01-14)
Headquarters
Burbank, California
,
US
Key people
David Haddad (president)
Products
Parent
Subsidiaries
Websitewarnerbrosgames.com

Warner Bros. Games(formerlyWarner Bros. Interactive Entertainment) is an Americanvideo game publisherbased inBurbank, California,and part of theGlobal Streaming and Interactive Entertainmentunit ofWarner Bros. Discovery(WBD).[2]The publisher was founded as Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment on January 14, 2004, underWarner Bros. Entertainmentand transferred to itsHome Entertainmentdivision when that company was formed in October 2005. Warner Bros. Games manages the wholly owned game development studiosTT Games,Rocksteady Studios,NetherRealm Studios,Monolith Productions,WB Games Boston,Avalanche Software,WB Games Montréaland Player First Games, among others.[2]

History

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Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

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The foundation of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (WBIE) underWarner Bros.was announced on January 14, 2004, along with theWB Games(Warner Bros. Games) brand, under which WBIE would publish games.Jason Hall,previously ofMonolith Productions,was named as itssenior vice president.[3]Later that year, Warner Bros. acquired Monolith Productions.[4]In October 2005, Warner Bros. created a new group–Warner Bros. Home Entertainment–and WBIE was transferred as part of it.[5]

In 2005, the first game that Monolith developed in conjunction with Warner Bros. wasThe Matrix Online,whichSegahelped co-publish. Warner Bros. also helped distribute bothEnter the MatrixandThe Matrix: Path of Neofor theMatrixseries. The same year, they released their first self-published title (with no co-publishers),Friends: The One with All the Trivia,forMicrosoft Windowsand thePlayStation 2.In 2006, they bought a 10.3% stake inSCi Entertainment,the owner ofEidos Interactive.In 2006, British video game publisherCodemasterssigned an American distribution deal with Warner Bros;[6]the deal expired in 2011 when Codemasters left forTHQ.In 2012, Codemasters and Warner Bros. restarted the distribution deal after THQ went bankrupt.[7]

In 2007, they implemented a five-year plan, the goal of which was to expand in thevideo game industryand included the acquisition of studios for internal development and the creation of a studio (WB Games) in theSeattlearea that will run all the gamespublishedanddevelopedby the company;[8]the first acquisition under this plan was Britain'sTT Gamesthat same year, for £100 million.[9]

In April 2008, they increased their stake to 35%, gaining distribution rights of all Eidos games in North America.[10]On December 15, 2008, shortly after SCi changed their name toEidos plc,Warner acquired a total of 10 million shares of the company, raising its owned amount to 19.92%, after an agreement which prevented Time Warner from acquiring more shares was scrapped one month earlier.[11]On January 28, 2009,The Hollywood Reporterreported the deal also gave Warner the rights of theTomb Raiderfilm series,[12]previously owned byParamount Pictures.On February 12, 2009, Warner Bros. backedSquare Enix's acquisition offer worth £84.3 million for Eidos plc as majority stakeholder.[13][14]

Warner Bros. announced on February 4, 2009 it had purchased independent developerSnowblind Studios.[15]Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the acquisition serves to strengthen the publisher's internal development effort.

Also in 2009, Warner purchased most of the assets of American publisherMidway Games,operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, for $49 million. The assets purchased include Midway's studio in Chicago[16]andSurreal Software,resulting in the ownership to the rights to theJoust,Mortal Kombat,The Suffering,Spy HunterandWheelmanseries, as well as the library of the formerAtari Games,which had previously been owned by Time Warner.[17]Midway had previously worked with Warner Bros. on several games, includingMortal Kombat vs. DC Universe.Midway intended to hold an auction of its assets on June 29, 2009, but no other bids were placed. On July 10, the sale to Warner was completed for approximatelyUS$49 million.[18]In the process, Warner became the owner of theBlitz: The Leagueseries. On July 28, 2009, Midway'sMortal Kombatteam was rebrandedWB Games Chicago[19]and, in 2010, was merged with Midway Games to formNetherRealm Studios.[20]

On January 13, 2010, it was announced that WBIE would produce and gain exclusive rights toSesame Streetvideo games, starting in fall 2010 withElmo's A-to-Zoo AdventureandCookie's Counting Carnival.[21][22]On February 23, 2010, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group announced it had acquired a majority stake in independent London-based developerRocksteady Studios,an independent development studio based inLondon.Rocksteady and Warner had previously worked together inBatman: Arkham AsylumandBatman: Arkham City,and have announced they will work in the future with more Warner Bros. licenses.[23]

On March 22, 2010, WBIE became the latest videogame company to open a studio inQuebec.Martin Tremblay was chosen to lead the newMontrealstudio,WB Games Montréal.The studio gradually grow to include more than 300 people by the end of 2015. Tremblay also said that Warner would open another studio in another city soon. He also said that WB Games Montréal will focus on creating games based on theDC Comicslicense.[24]On April 9, WBIE announced it would publish a third installment to theF.E.A.R.series in the fall of 2010.[25]On April 20, 2010, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group acquiredTurbine, Inc.the developer of the famous MMOsAsheron's Call,Dungeons & Dragons OnlineandThe Lord of the Rings Online.[26]

On June 4, WBHEG and Turbine, inc. said that the massively multiplayer online titleThe Lord of the Rings Onlinewas to become a free-to-play game that autumn.[27]WBIE announced 6 days later thatMortal Kombat,a reboot of the series (and considered the series' most brutal installment to date), was due for release on thePlayStation 3andXbox 360in 2011.Mortal Kombatwas developed by the newly renamedNetherRealm Studios,led by series creator and creative directorEd Boon.[28]Branching out fromGame Partyfor theWii,WBIE attempted to leverage theXbox 360's new full-body motion-sensing deviceKinecton June 14 and revealedGame Party: In Motionfor the new device, set for a November 4 release as a launch title.[29]AfterKevin Tsujiharabecame chairman and CEO of Warner Bros., he promotedDiane Nelsonto the post of President and Chief Content Officer of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.[30][31]In January 2015, David Haddad was named Executive Vice President and General Manager of the company[32]and was promoted to President in October.[33]

In October 2016,AT&Tannounced its intentions to acquire Time Warner, making Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment a subsidiary of AT&T.[34]On December 19, 2016, it was announced that Warner Bros. would no longer develop or publishThe Lord of the Rings OnlineorDungeons & Dragons Online;further development of the game would be handled by a newly formed studio,Standing Stone Games,with publishing to be transitioned over toDaybreak Game Company.The new studio would take the old development team from Turbine, leaving Turbine as a mobile-only developer.[35]As part of the deal, Daybreak did not pick up the rights toAsheron's Call,an original IP created by Turbine and thus owned by Warner Bros. as part of the 2010 acquisition. This resulted in the closure ofAsheron's CallandAsheron's Call 2: Fallen Kingson January 31, 2017.[36]

On January 24, 2017, it was announced that recently-closed studioAvalanche Softwareand its Octane engine software were acquired by Warner Bros. fromDisney Interactive Studiosand the studio was reopened, with John Blackburn returning as its CEO. The studio's first title under Warner was a companion video game to theDisney-PixarfilmCars 3,titledCars 3: Driven to Win,in partnership with Warner Bros., Disney, and Pixar.[37]On February 8, Playdemic was acquired through TT Games to make Lego games for mobile devices.[38]On July 11, 2018, it acquired Plexchat, a communications platform for mobile games, with its founder and staff joining WB Games San Francisco.[39][40]

In mid-2020, there had been industry rumors that AT&T, in order to raise funds, was looking to sell off parts of its divisions, with WBIE as one that had been rumored to be up for sale that would have raised $4 billion, according toCNBCandThe Information.[41][42]However, in an August 2020 press release regarding an organizational restructuring, WarnerMedia stated that WBIE "remains part of the Studios and Networks group".[43][44]Bloomberg Newsreported AT&T has confirmed to no longer be selling the game division, the decision to keep the division amid a change in leadership at AT&T in July of that year.[45]

Rebrand to Warner Bros. Games

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In May 2021, AT&T announced that it was splitting off WarnerMedia for about$43 billion,where it would be merged withDiscovery, Inc.As part of this sale, there were rumors that only portions of WBIE would be moved with the bulk of the other WarnerMedia properties,[46]but WBIE would be retained as Warner Bros. Games under the newly merged company namedWarner Bros. Discovery.[47][48]Playdemic was one of the few properties divested from the merger, with it being sold to Electronic Arts for$1.4 billionon September 20, 2021.[49]It was announced on April 7, 2022, that Warner Bros. Games was reorganized with streaming servicesHBO MaxandDiscovery+to formWarner Bros. Discovery Global Streaming & Interactive Entertainment,to be overseen by JB Perrette; WB Games president David Haddad would report directly to Perrette.[1]The merger was completed on April 8.[50]

In July 2024, Warner Bros. Games acquiredMultiVersusdeveloper Player First Games.[51]

In July 2024, theScreen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists(SAG-AFTRA), a labor union of which numerous video game voice actors are members, would initiate alabor strikeagainst a number of video publishers, including WB Games, over concerns about lack ofA.I.protections for not only video game voice actors, but also the use of A.I to replicate an actor’s voice, or create a digital replica of their likeness.[52][53]

Subsidiaries and divisions

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Publishing labels

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Studios

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Former studios

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Other assets

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WB Games owns the assets and IPs ofMidway Games,Bally Manufacturing,Williams ElectronicsandAtari Games.

List of video games

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Main article:List of Warner Bros. Games video games

See also

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References

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  2. ^ab"Home Entertainment – Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment".Warner Bros.Archivedfrom the original on June 30, 2019.RetrievedJuly 11,2019.
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