AT&T's $43 Billion Deal Will Impact Harry Potter, Mortal Kombat, Batman Game Studios

AT&T's $43 billion deal with Discovery sees the telecom giant unload its content divisions, including HBO Max's WarnerMedia to create a new standalone company, but what's going to happen with the video game division, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment?

We still don't have all the answers, but a spokesperson told Axios writer Sara Fischer that "some of the gaming arm will stay with AT&T and some will go with the new company."

That's all AT&T had to say on the matter. WBIE has 11 studios, including Avalanche Software, Monolith Productions, Rocksteady, NetherRealm, TT Games, WB Games Montreal, WB Games Boston, WB Games San Diego, WB Games New York, and WB Games San Francisco. We have followed up with WBIE in an attempt to further clarify how this will shake out concerning which studios stay with AT&T and which go to the new company.

There were reports that AT&T was planning to sell or spin off WBIE, with Microsoft, Take-Two, EA, and Activision all said to be involved or interested--in some capacity--in exploring a buyout. But in September 2020, AT&T said it was no longer seeking to sell WBIE.

AT&T's new deal with Discovery represents a big change for the company--the main takeaway is that it's leaving content production by selling WarnerMedia to Discovery to create the new spinoff company. The deal's announcement was said to be "rushed," so much so that WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar is said to have only become aware of the deal in recent days. He is now said to be negotiating an exit package from the company.

WarnerMedia is behind gigantic franchises like Game of Thrones, Mortal Kombat, The Lord of the Rings, and many others. It's also the operator of the newly launched HBO Max. We'll report back with more details on this deal and what it means for WBIE as we learn more.

WBIE has a number of major games in development right now across its studios, including Harry Potter: Hogwarts Legacy from Avalanche and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League from Rocksteady.