UPDATED STORY: Warner Bros. Media has responded to news posted on The Gamer that one of their staff had seen documentation that suggested they were not going to include NetherRealms (of Mortal Kombat fame) and TT Games (custodians of the LEGO Star Wars video games) – as well as a number of subsidiary studios – in the ongoing $43 billion merger between Warner Bros. Media and Discovery Inc.
“I can confirm NetherRealm Studios and TT Games will continue to remain a part of Warner Bros. Games, and all are included in the Warner Media Discovery merger.” said Senior Vice President of Worldwide Communications & PR at Warner Bros., Remi Sklar.
ORIGINAL STORY: The beleaguered gaming division of Warner Brothers Pictures is rumored to be looking to sell off two of its development studios, says The Gamer, who reports that Senior Editor for Windows Central and The XBox Two podcast host Jez Corden has seen a “document” that reveals Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment is divesting itself of a number of divisions and departments as part of the Warner Brothers/Discovery merger.
“I do have some documentation about the whole thing with AT&T, Warner Brothers and [Discovery]. Right now they’re spinning off some of their stuff, Warner Brothers is, and this document I’ve got seems to suggest that among the studios they are potentially looking to spin off is NetherRealm and Traveller’s Tale.”
Jez Corden (Source: The Xbox Two Podcast)
NetheЯRealm Studios, which rose from the ashes of Midway Games in 2009, is known for its Mortal Kombat series while the phoenix-like Traveller’s Tales, who released the first LEGO Star Wars video game in 2005, is responsible for all the LEGO video game titles – including the twice-delayed LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga.
Corden goes on to state that the document in question says that Warner Brothers are looking to sell off the Tt Games subsidiaries and makes mention of their mobile games studio. Readers will remember that LEGO Star Wars Battles, which was developed by Playdemic, was ignominiously turned off at the start of the month.
Those following the story of this small mobile phone gaming company will already know that Playdemic was bought by Electronic Arts for a whopping $1.4 billion last month, indicating that Corden’s document is either a month out of date or factually inconsistent.
Before adding his own thoughts that “Warner Bros. weren’t happy with the performance of the Mortal Kombat movie, they weren’t happy with the performance of the Lego movies. Also, the whole Lego IP is licensed out of Denmark and that eats into their profits.” he does state that his source material isn’t “super credible” however.
All of this is fall out from the ongoing merger between WarnerMedia, whom (along with CNN, HBO and DC Comics) AT&T is spinning off, and Discovery, Inc., which has resulted in the imaginatively titled Warner Bros. Discovery, so expect more confusing announcements and conflicting rumors until the dust settles.
Will the competition of LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga fall through the cracks and remain unreleased, like the final chapter of LEGO The Hobbit video game (also by Tt Games)? Share your thoughts, dreams, and worries in the comment section below.
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