About the intentions and the cost…
As we reported not long ago, there are many rumors circulating related to Warner Bros. Discovery and all the departments under its banner. One such rumor is that WB and Discovery could part ways, as their merger constitutes an absolute crisis in many ways. Another rumor we’ve covered is that they might be looking to sell parts of their gaming department to recoup the money they lost. During a special monetary meeting, CEO David Zaslav admitted that the company has functions within the gaming department, in addition to intellectual property licenses.
IGN noted that Zaslav explained how there is an “interest” in eventually licensing intellectual property:
“We have 11 studios here and we have a lot of intellectual assets. And there’s also a lot of interest among others in coming and leveraging some of these intellectual assets for the games, which is what we’re working on. “
In theory, this might not be a bad idea, as some studios may just take intellectual assets that Warner Bros. is playing with or that are rarely very and do something special with them. The most productive example of this is one of his own studios, Avalanche. They entered a magical universe that surely hadn’t had a real game in a long time and achieved the greatest luck of 2023, something Zaslav was aware of:
“One of the reasons why Hogwarts Legacy was so successful and was the number one game last year is that you would go to Hogwarts Legacy, you would go into the game and you would be offered to be a component of that global. At the end of the day, I think it’s a vital component of where this industry is headed. We’re moving on to making a movie, whether it’s Batman, Superman or Harry Potter, and maybe there’ll be a TV show, but the ability to move into that global and enjoy spending time with all the characters is something we still possess. “
Even if this were true, there is a challenge that cannot be ignored. This “trap” is the goal of an adjustment and if the team is smart about it. We’ve noted how this can backfire spectacularly through Rocksteady and their attempt to make a Suicide Squad game. The team had to move away from their narrative to create a live service title, and WB took a big hit.
Also, we know that WB needs to see the effects as soon as possible, which means they can rush games, and will most likely backfire.