The Financial Times has published a report on the continued decline in the share price of Warner Bros. Discovery. WBD was formed in 2022 through the merger of Warner Bros. and Discovery, and its goal is to help the two companies compete with the likes of Netflix and Disney.
But now it appears Warner Bros. Discovery is considering selling off part of its gaming business.
According to the Financial Times, the company has been exploring ways to reverse its share price decline, including a split plan. But the split would be too much trouble and potentially lead to years of legal trouble.
Instead, the Financial Times says WBD is “looking to sell off smaller assets”. Citing “people familiar with the matter,” the Financial Times says it is considering “offers to sell Polish broadcaster TVN or a stake in Warner’s video games business.”
The report rightly points out that Warner Bros. Games owns the rights to Harry Potter. Keep in mind that a stake in the games division doesn’t mean everything. So WB could retain the rights to most of the biggest IPs, including Mortal Kombat and Harry Potter. “Equity” could simply mean that they’re looking for investors willing to provide capital in exchange for a portion of the profits.
It’s fair to say that Warner Bros. has had mixed success in the gaming business. On the one hand, Hogwarts Legacy was the best-selling game of 2023 and is still selling millions of copies in 2024. On the other hand, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was a disaster that cost the company $300 million. Embarrassingly, Warner Bros. said it wanted to make Hogwarts Legacy a live-service game when Kill the Justice League itself crashed and burned as a live-service.
In the midst of all that, they also released Mortal Kombat 1. Last I heard, it sold 3 million copies in its first few months. But since then, there’s been no news. MK1 is set to get a huge new expansion this year.
