Netflix announced this morning that it’s acquiring Warner Bros, in an $82.7 billion deal that will see the streamer take control of HBO, HBO Max, and WB’s TV and film studios. Reportedly, the sale will also include WB Games, announced in June as becoming part of the WB “streaming and studios” division that Netflix has purchased. This means that Netflix, a company that seems to have no idea what to do with the games studios it already owns, could own more games studios.
Game Developer’s Chris Kerr received confirmation from a WB spokesperson that WB Games is going to Netflix, following what was reportedly a brief appearance of the Mortal Kombat logo in a Netflix conference call this morning. WB Games includes studios like Rocksteady, who make the Arkham games; Avalanche, who made Hogwarts Legacy; and Lego games maker TT Games. Previously, WB Games restructured around–shudder–IP like Harry Potter, Mortal Kombat, Game of Thrones, and DC. Netflix noted Game of Thrones and DC specifically in its press release about the sale, writing “Beloved franchises, shows and movies such as The Big Bang Theory, The Sopranos, Game of Thrones, The Wizard of Oz and the DC Universe will join Netflix’s extensive portfolio including Wednesday, Money Heist, Bridgerton, Adolescence and Extraction, creating an extraordinary entertainment offering for audiences worldwide.”
I also attended the full Netflix conference call discussing the proposed deal and the VAST majority of chatter was focused on film and television (and IP ownership). This 'Business Overview' slide contained the only mention of WB's video game business.
— Chris Kerr (@kerrblimey.bsky.social) 2025-12-05T14:14:59.104Z
That Netflix doesn’t seem to be touting the games part of this deal is perhaps no surprise. After dipping its toe into games as early as 2018’s Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (which it pulled from the platform earlier this year), Netflix has been clumsily ramping its games efforts up and down. After buying Oxenfree developer Night School in 2021 and opening some games studios in 2022, Netflix has been closing and selling studios and changing its strategy since. A AAA game reportedly in development from Netflix’s California studio was cancelled when the studio was shut down in 2024; Netflix went on to close Boss Fight, the studio behind its Squid Game mobile game, earlier this year, and just this week it sold Cozy Grove developer Spry Fox back to its founders. At the same time, Netflix has been rehashing an effort to focus on TV-based social games, as well as games for kids, offering games on its service like Red Dead Redemption and GTA, and tie-ins to its own programming (despite, again, closing the studio that made its Squid Game tie-in).
None of this has thus far equated to a comprehensive, successful games strategy. As Nicole wrote when Boss Fight was shuttered:
[P]eople don't come to Netflix for games. It’s likely many people don't even know the company offers them—the disconnect between Netflix on your TV and its games on your phone doesn't necessarily work in favor of the company. Research company Omdia reported in June that Netflix’s games lineup increased user time spent by less than .5%, according to Reuters, which certainly doesn’t seem like a win for the extending audience engagement Peters spoke of in the earnings call. Netflix's strategy, as described on Tuesday in the financial earnings call, remains impossibly broad, even as Peters said the company was focusing its efforts on “a few identified verticals.”
That a company with no idea what it’s doing in games would now own even more games feels like a recipe for disaster. If Netflix is actively interested in WB's game offerings at all, it could want them for the same reason WB wanted them–for the tie-ins– but it’s already shown itself to be unable to handle the opportunities it currently has in that space. Not that WB is a model of success here either; it closed three studios back in February, including one working on a Wonder Woman game. At both Netflix and WB, the men in suits seem to get as far as “people like video games, and also movies and TV” and then have no idea what to do next, costing games workers their jobs in the process.
And all this is to say nothing of all the potential ramifications of one company owning even more media properties and streaming platforms, with Netflix already musing about its plans for theatrical releases. The deal still needs to go through regulatory review, and the restructure that sees WB Games fall under the company’s streaming offerings is still in progress, so there are a lot of unknowns in terms of how things could look once, and if, everything is finalized. But there’s no reason to assume Netflix will suddenly get its shit together if it ends up with more games studios to flail around with. Maybe a handful of companies shouldn’t own everything?
