It looks like AT&T isn’t going to sell Warner Bros. Interactive after all.
Rumors circulating earlier this summer made it seem like AT&T–the parent company of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment–was planning to sell the game publisher in order to recoup some of its massive debt. Which would have been a bit of a weird move since Warner Bros. is quite profitable for them thanks to hit games like Mortal Kombat 11 and the Arkham Knight franchise.
It turns out that AT&T might have thought better of the move. A recent memo from Warner Media CEO Jason Kilar seems to indicate that the company has no plans to ditch video games anytime soon.
Although this news is certainly welcome, it doesn’t sound like Warner Bros. is in a good spot financially. The email posted to the Warner Media press site is about organizational changes at the company, including a bunch of new CEOs but also “reducing the size of our teams, our layers, and our overall workforce.” That’s corporate-speak for impending layoffs.
On the plus side, “Warner Bros. Interactive remains part of the Studios and Networks group,” according to Kilar, which will remain “focused on engaging fans with our brands and franchises through games and other interactive experience.”
In other words, Warner Bros. Interactive isn’t going anywhere.
Which makes sense, considering RockSteady Games recently announced their upcoming Suicide Squad game adaptation. We don’t know much about it, but from the cover art that was posted on social media, it seems that the Suicide Squad is going after Superman. More details will be revealed at the DC FanDome event to be held on August 22.
However, layoffs might cause a bit of a wrench in whatever plans RockSteady has. The internal memo made no mention of which divisions at Warner Bros. would be forced to downsize or by how much. It’s possible that Warner Bros. Interactive and its various studios will avoid the worst of the downsizing. Here’s hoping.
Source: Warner Media, GamesIndustry.biz
