The Leaked Truths
Banned
That's true, WB is not for sale anymore because they changed their Mind. But OP was not able to do a 5 Minute Research before posting this Thread
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Pachter: Sony in good position to buy WB
- Thread starter Dr. Kitty Muffins
- Start date
turtlepowa
Banned
They already copied Batman and called it Spider-man, why now pay for it?
Knitted Knight
Banned
This has a slim chance of happening in my opinion. But if it does... that's both the best marvel IP and the best DC IP under Sony's house. Comic character lovers on lock which is the hot thing in cinema and pop culture. Plus good AAA action-rpg studios on the books.
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Sentenza
Member
WB games has a bunch of fairly talented studios and valuable IPs that under a good direction could do genuinely great.
Mister Wolf
Member
With or without a permanent license for DC games?
The Pleasure
Member
For very little they can buy aksys and make them stop that janky ass animation in their fighting games.
Kerotan
Member
Yeah you could have them make something else not involving DC. TBH Sony are more likely to aquire dev studios off publishers and not pay a fortune for their IP's.
Sentenza
Member
On a side note, does anyone have more details on why the parent company decided to NOT sell in the end?
It's unusual for one of these major companies to decide "We are moving out of the gaming business and selling that part of our company" just to change their minds few weeks later.
It's unusual for one of these major companies to decide "We are moving out of the gaming business and selling that part of our company" just to change their minds few weeks later.
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Well, exclusive negotiations exists (granted that Sony and specially WB make a deal)
ToadMan
Member
AT&T changed their minds saying that the gaming part of WB had more potential to grow so they took it off the market.
Translation, no one was offering enough for the acquisition. AT&T are flat revenue even during the lockdown when other content providers are doing better. HBO max has flat revenue, gaming flat. Their 5G rollout will decide what happens next. If the 5G is not impactful, WB will be back on the market at a more reasonable price.
MS are out of the running. They’ve commited somewhere around 20% of their corporate on hand cash to gaming - they need to show investors a return before committing more or face some difficult earnings questions.
What the zenimax acquisition has done is over value gaming stuff - MS acquired zenimax with a value of 3bn, for 7.5bn cash. So no surprise AT&T thought they could ask a way over valued price.
But I don’t think Sony would be get it either. Probably one of Acti, EA or maybe Take Two. Possibly Amazon if they’re keen on trying out the games market.
Hostile_18
Banned
We need Sony to buy a really big publisher, keep it multiplatform so gamers either side lose nothing. Both manufacturers realize they just paid a load of money to keep the status quo minus bolstering their respective streaming services lol.
Blood Borne
Member
Whoever buys Capcom wins
MrFunSocks
Banned
MS had $136bil cash on hand in June. Where have they committed ~$28bil to gaming atm?
The Scrivener
Member
High end business deals being made like playground bullying.
"MS wants you after school outside the gates. Don't wuss out Sony, have him. Take his lunch money."
So an internet forum and a hack journalist are going to tell Sony to do something dumb just to get one over the competition lol?
"MS wants you after school outside the gates. Don't wuss out Sony, have him. Take his lunch money."
So an internet forum and a hack journalist are going to tell Sony to do something dumb just to get one over the competition lol?
LisaMariaMartin
Banned
WB games are pretty lame tbh. MS got incredibly lucky with Zenimax.
Stilton Disco
Member
Hopefully the rule of Pachter means they're not selling then.
Unless a studio is going under otherwise, or it's a studio that only ever made 2nd party exclusives, platform holders buying up thrird parties is always bad for us as customers.
Unless a studio is going under otherwise, or it's a studio that only ever made 2nd party exclusives, platform holders buying up thrird parties is always bad for us as customers.
The_Mike
I cry about SonyGaf from my chair in Redmond, WA
Yeah reality is often the opposite of what this guys says.
How can he still have his job?
Concern
Member
I need a job where I can get everything I possibly can wrong and still get paid for it lol
PlayStation "Is In a Good Position to Buy WB Games," Says Analyst
Last month, Microsoft announced the acquisition of Bethesda's parent company ZeniMax Media in a [...]comicbook.com
"Their acquisitions have been smaller, like Insomniac, and those are the kinds of acquisitions that I would expect,” said Pachter while speaking to Gaming Bolt. “I do think Sony is in a good position to buy Warner Bros. Interactive assets should they ever go on sale again. Depending on whether AT&T chooses to sell them, and how. If they just want to license their IP out, they will probably not go with exclusivity deals, because they won’t want the games limited to just one platform, but if they sell perpetual rights to Batman or Mortal Kombat, I think those assets would be pretty cool for Sony to fold into their lineup"
If Sony made a move like this, would anyone expect them to release the IPs on another console?
joshcrispy
Neo Member
thats the kicker tho, wb only wanted to sell the studios and license the IPs. not worth it imo. its more likely they buy Square or konami than WB games.
The Alien
Banned
The biggest linchpin in this whole thing is the rights to the licenses. It takes this deal from grearvto mediocre (depending on sell price).
WB wants to earn money off the licenses while the buyer takes on the studios and costs. Great deal (for WB).
Im not convinced that A) Sony could win a bidding war with MS, Google, Amazon, Tencent, EA, etc. B) Sony can obtain the licenses in perpetuity where others did not C) that Michael Pachter is basing this story on any facts or just wild speculation. D) same as when Microsoft was looking, some of the value is in mutli-plat. If u are going to do something with them other than traditional, it would make sense. But to keep it traditional as single unit sales will make it take that much longer to get the investment back.
WB wants to earn money off the licenses while the buyer takes on the studios and costs. Great deal (for WB).
Im not convinced that A) Sony could win a bidding war with MS, Google, Amazon, Tencent, EA, etc. B) Sony can obtain the licenses in perpetuity where others did not C) that Michael Pachter is basing this story on any facts or just wild speculation. D) same as when Microsoft was looking, some of the value is in mutli-plat. If u are going to do something with them other than traditional, it would make sense. But to keep it traditional as single unit sales will make it take that much longer to get the investment back.
ToadMan
Member
Between setting up/acquiring about 6 new studios since 2018 and now Zenimax at 7.5bn, plus launching 2 new consoles, gamepass and xcloud - yeah I think that comfortably comes to 20 to 30bn over the last 3 years or so, put into gaming.
But it should also be pointed out MS don’t have 136bn cash - they have about 13bn in cash. MS put the majority - around 122bn - into investments and that’s the figure you’re referring to.
This last FY they made about 45bn in FCF - that will pay down debt, pay owner dividends and the rest will be invested for a return - that’s the fund for the 7.5bn for zenimax.
It’s up to MS to explain to owners why it’s better to buy zenimax than buy down debt, acquire additional equity in their core business space, or pay higher dividends.
As it is, MS has committed a big chunk of money to gaming - it’s time to show the return on that investment.
MiguelItUp
Member
Okay, but will they? I don't think so. Honestly a part of me thinks WB isn't interested in being bought.
Maybe It's Medicine?
Member
Assuming they get the licenses, I would be fine with it. The new Batman game looks like ass and I'm sure Rocksteadys would rather be making a Superman game. If Sony could fix those two mistakes, the that would great. Also I want a new Mad Max game please, first one was great.
Gross. I didn’t like zenimax sale to one console maker that also has a windows store.PlayStation "Is In a Good Position to Buy WB Games," Says Analyst
Last month, Microsoft announced the acquisition of Bethesda's parent company ZeniMax Media in a [...]
"Their acquisitions have been smaller, like Insomniac, and those are the kinds of acquisitions that I would expect,” said Pachter while speaking to Gaming Bolt. “I do think Sony is in a good position to buy Warner Bros. Interactive assets should they ever go on sale again. Depending on whether AT&T chooses to sell them, and how. If they just want to license their IP out, they will probably not go with exclusivity deals, because they won’t want the games limited to just one platform, but if they sell perpetual rights to Batman or Mortal Kombat, I think those assets would be pretty cool for Sony to fold into their lineup"
I sure as hell wouldn’t like another 3rd party sold to another console maker with paltry / nonexistent PC release support.
EverydayBeast
thinks Halo Infinite is a new graphical benchmark
Buying studios is contagious in gaming buy WB lockdown Mortal Kombat and Batman and avoid a PS4 winning generation hangover.
Pallas
Gold Member
Uh didn’t AT&T changed it’s mind on selling WB’s gaming division?
www.google.com
AT&T looks to have changed its mind about selling its gaming studios
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, owner of studios such as Rocksteady, NetherRealm, and TT Games, is seemingly no…
www.google.com
He really should. To the best of my knowledge he's never ever been right about anything. I get high off my ass and make more accurate predictions.
darthpaxton
Neo Member
Yeah, but they didn't make any organizational changes that traditionally come with a decision like that, so it's likely not a permanent refrain from pursuing a sale. They likely just weren't making the progress they wanted or getting the types of bids they were looking to secure. Hoeg Law did a great video on it if you're curious.Uh didn’t AT&T changed it’s mind on selling WB’s gaming division?
AT&T looks to have changed its mind about selling its gaming studios
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, owner of studios such as Rocksteady, NetherRealm, and TT Games, is seemingly no…
JackNightblade
Member
Sony has roughly $4 billion cash-on-hand. thats not even enough to buy WB if they wanted to.
deriks
4-Time GIF/Meme God
Warner is owned by AT&T, which is huge as fuck. If Sony buys the game division, chances are that they won't get all the IPs and they will rename it, or if they get the IPs, will be a contract-timed or whatever sorta of thing, like 007 is
Sony can see better studios to buy
Sony can see better studios to buy
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