According to sources with Bloomberg, AT&T is no longer interested in selling Warner Bros.’s gaming division, WB Interactive. The telecommunications giant was planning to sell the segment off for $4 billion to help pay off its Time Warner debt, but evidently, the bean counters have realized how valuable its studios (e.g., Rocksteady, NetherRealm) actually are and how much profit they can generate for the parent company – particularly during a pandemic, where many are forced to seek entertainment indoors.
“Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, the gaming unit that is home to titles like Harry Potter: Wizards Unite and Mortal Kombat 11, had attracted interest from several major companies and could have reaped $4 billion, as reported by CNBC in June,” wrote Bloomberg. “But AT&T balked given the business’s growth potential, said the people, asking not to be identified because the information is private.”
Selling the division may have also resulted in a legal nightmare due to the sheer amount of licensed properties that the studios work with. AT&T also wanted to hang on to a portion of that pie, which would have made things especially complicated. “A deal might involve a commercial licensing agreement where AT&T can continue to get revenue from its IP,” sources noted in CNBC’s initial report.