Warner Bros. Discovery is reportedly looking into selling off games and other divisions in an effort to avoid a total breakup.
The decision comes amid concerns among executives who fear "years of legal challenges" if TV and movie studio businesses are split apart.
It was also made as Warner Bros. Discovery's senior management is trying to reverse the Hollywood group's plunging share price.
Warner Bros. Discovery Could Sell Games
The situation comes following a drop of nearly 70% in its stock price since Warner Bros. Discovery was formed back in 2022. Chief executive David Zaslav and chief financial officer Gunnar Wiedenfels were said to have evaluated "all options" to arrest the decline.
However, the senior executives who carried out a detailed analysis of the consequences of a potential split determined that fencing off the group's declining TV channels from its streaming and studio business was not the best option at the time, according to the Financial Times.
Last month, it was reported that Warner Bros. Discovery, which is the owner of HBO, the Warner Bros. studio, and CNN, was drafting a break-up plan. A person who was involved in the deliberations said that a split initially looked compelling on paper.
They noted, however, that it would only create significant operational challenges, such as doing sports rights deals, determining what goes on linear television or what goes on direct-to-consumer streaming, and when.
Since Warner Bros. Discovery merged with Discovery in 2022, it has repeatedly reaffirmed its desire to stick around in the video games industry. It particularly focused on live-service titles, said GameDeveloper.
Avoiding a Total Split
The company experienced massive success with several games such as Hogwarts Legacy, which was released in 2023.
However, it also had some average releases such as Multiversus as well as disappointments like Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which were both launched in 2024.
The idea of selling games could be the one way that Warner Bros. Discovery could address the issue without triggering further complications, both legally and content-wise.
It recently lost out on media rights for its NBA games and is working on rebranding its Max originals back to HBO.
While there are discussions about selling games, Warner Bros. Discovery is seemingly stopping short of selling CNN. A source said that the bar to meet to divest the news network would be "very, very high."
This is particularly true because of its strategic importance as well as the deal's tax implications, according to The Wrap.
