Netflix has just purchased Warner Bros. Studios for $82.7 billion, and if that deal goes through, it will now own many of the most popular IPs on the planet, in addition to WB’s literal studios.
One of those studios? WB Games, which was potentially going to be spun off of WB a while back, but that never happened, and now yes, it’s part of the Netflix deal. And that’s being mentioned in exactly 1% of the coverage today, with everything focused on theatrical releases and HBO Max.
WB Games has had its ups and downs over the years, rock bottom downs (Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League) and record-setting ups (Hogwarts Legacy). But now the question turns to…what on earth is happening now? Netflix is invested in video games to some extent. It has its own gaming division and portion of its app. But it has practically no AAA game experience and the titles it has are mostly meant to be played on places like iPads, where you’d usually be watching Netflix on the go. So now what? Well, in theory, here are the games Netflix is now supposed to be making by owning WB Games:
Hogwarts Legacy 2 – This went into production immediately after the game became a smash hit, selling tens of millions of copies as the best-selling game of 2023. It should be a massive sequel, and it’s hard to imagine that it will go anywhere.
Play Puzzles & Games on Forbes
Potential New Arkham Game – This has not been announced or confirmed, but after the failure of Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, rumors are that the studio is returning to Batman, their bread and butter after three excellent Arkham games.
AAA DC Game – WB Games Montreal is said to be working on a live-service game set in the DC universe, though details on that are scarce, and it stands to reason it will not be Batman-based, given the above. We, of course, remember how the live-service Marvel’s Avengers went for Square Enix…
Mortal Kombat 1
Netherrealm
The Next Mortal Kombat (probably) – We don’t have any details about it, but it will exist, and NetherRealm’s Ed Boon says the game has been played for “a long time.” There is some chance it could be a new Injustice game, not MK, but that seems somewhat unlikely.
Game of Thrones: War for Westeros/All GoT games – Game of Thrones has yet to produce a large-scale AAA offering, and that’s still true with the upcoming release of War for Westeros, as that’s a PC-based RTS game coming out sometime in 2026. But any future GoT title would be under Netflix now.
LEGO Games – If there’s a LEGO game out these days, WB owns it, thanks to its current rights-holding. So here’s your “aimed at kids” angle.
The Nemesis System – Players have noted that WB has locked down the beloved Nemesis system after its appearance in LOTR games, where players kill enemies and have them be promoted and return in a hierarchy. A new Wonder Woman game using that system was recently cancelled, but who knows where this may show up. I doubt they open up the license, of course. I’m guessing this is not on Netflix’s radar whatsoever in the first place.
That’s not everything, and as you can see, there are only a limited amount of actually announced WB Games projects. A valid concern is if Netflix wants to be as invested in often very expensive AAA games, and if not, whether that could involve cancellations, shutdowns and layoffs. Though they may want to keep everything intact as a way to cross-promote its various IPs. Conversely, they could use WB Games to make big titles based on existing Netflix IP. KPop Demon Hunters brawler, anyone? We’ll have to wait and see.
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