Netflix wants to buy parts of Warner Brothers, including the gaming division. But what does this mean for old and especially future games?
What kind of deal is this? Warner Brothers wants to sell parts of its company. So far, three interested parties have emerged: Paramount, Comcast, and Netflix. According to reports, Netflix is now in the lead. Although the purchase is not yet final and confirmed, it seems that parts of Warner Brothers will go to Netflix in the future. This includes the gaming division. This was reported by the magazine Gamedeveloper.com.
The gaming division includes major brands like Harry Potter and DC, many licensed Lego games, and also games based on The Lord of the Rings. The question arises as to what will happen to these games if Netflix acquires parts of Warner. Especially when thinking of large games like Hogwarts Legacy 2, which has already been confirmed.
Other companies have already removed games from Steam: for their own interest or for licensing reasons
What is the situation? First of all, it is unclear what will happen to the licenses. In the case of a company takeover, licenses depend on the respective license agreement: they may automatically transfer to the new owner if it is a universal succession or require explicit consent from the licensor.
In this example, this specifically means: The Embracer Group has licensed some rights of The Lord of the Rings to Warner Brothers. It is unclear whether such rights will transfer to the new owner or need to be renegotiated.
It is also possible that Netflix, as the new owner, will remove games from Steam or other platforms. This could be for legal reasons or simply out of interest in binding players to its own platform in the future. Here are various examples:
- In 2019, Psyonix was acquired by Epic Games, and afterwards Epic stopped selling Rocket League to continue the game on its own launcher.
- Stranger Things 3 was removed from Steam because the publisher BonusXP took it off the market to offer it exclusively through Netflix.
- Borderlands 3 was temporarily exclusive to the Epic Games Store for six months at its PC launch, and many Ubisoft games followed a similar path.
- The Amazing Spider-Man 1 and 2 disappeared from Steam in 2017 because the license from Activision had expired.
What will happen to future games like Hogwarts Legacy 2? The new owner might decide to offer the game exclusively through Netflix. Then important platforms like Steam would be left out.
MeinMMO has therefore requested a statement. As soon as we know more, we will report on it.
The gaming division of Warner Brothers has caused some of the most painful flops in recent years: Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is considered a huge failure, for example. The new game for Wonder Woman had to be halted during development. This affects arguably their currently strongest gaming brand, the game for Harry Potter: Hogwarts Legacy 2: After catastrophic gaming flops with superheroes, Warner Bros is likely reevaluating Hogwarts Legacy 2
