SEScoops: Sony is considering to acquire Warner Bros Discovery Streaming and Studios

Astray said:
Lol had no idea that Warner Music Group was not affiliated with WB, kinda explains a lot of their struggles huh?

Do you think Sony will make anything exclusive here? Things like MK or Batman Arkham or Hogwarts have strong reach and sales even on Xbox and it would probably be harmful for Sony to completely cut them off in any way.
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Let me first start off by saying I don't think this will happen and we're a very long road away from even legitimate rumors. The company still has to split first and there will be other bidders.

But hypothetically, if Sony were to buy Warner Media/Streaming, I would expect them to fully leverage the IP in a way to promote the PlayStation business, which would mean exclusivity to PlayStation consoles, handhelds, and release on PC for additional revenue.

As far as PlayStation is concerned, you'd see Harry Potter become a major focal point of their strategy, especially when it comes to trying to attract a younger audience. Hogwarts Legacy on steroids with more competent studios behind the IP. Insomnaic would shift to Batman from Spider-Man and it would be the same thing as we see now. PlayStation + PC at a later date.

Marvel Tokon is a clear example of what Sony would do with Mortal Kombat. It would be exclusive to PlayStatation and PC.

Sony doesn't care about excluding Xbox. It's primary goal for profitability is to destroy Xbox as soon as it can. They want every purchase of these console games to be through their store and they want the 30-60 million potential extra gamers that they can get from Xbox before they target the TAM of the Switch and PC.
 
FMX said:
The studios can be purchased but not the IP's. They are not for sell. That's why Microsoft nor Tencent didn't purchase them. WBD is being split into 2 companies next year with their debt being saddled to the company that doesn't include HBO. All this exclusive talk is bull crap those Ip's aren't going anywhere. That debt is going to be a hard sell. Only a trillion dollar company could take this hit. Outside of Apple who else would be interested?
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WBD Streaming and Studios....the one we are discussing, is the one that has DC, all Warners Bros Entertainment units(including Motion Picture group) and HBO.

WBD Global the one with CNN, Discovery, TBS etc etc.....we dont give a shit about.


WBD Global is going to take the brunt of the debt......combined debt is 38 billion.....but we arent discussing that company.





Where do you suppose the Warner Bros Entertainment IPs are gonna go?
You think they will be with WBD Global, which is effectively only the Cable Companies......CNN gonna produce the next Harry Potter series.....premiering exclusive on Discovery+??????
tdF0IHk.gif





If Sony buys WBD S&S they are taking the Entertainment IPs with.
 
Didn't WB try to sell their video game stuff and got no takers? Or am I hallucinating?

Anyway I don't know why WB would sell all the valuable stuff they have (even if thehve grossly mismanaged it) while holding on to the total shit, but I guess it's a question of price.
 
They should wait a tiny bit longer, when the DCU v2 goes down the toilet they will be reqlly cheap to buy out
 
diffusionx said:
Didn't WB try to sell their video game stuff and got no takers? Or am I hallucinating?
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They were trying to sell the studios but not the IP. So no surprise no one was interested.


diffusionx said:
Anyway I don't know why WB would sell all the valuable stuff they have (even if thehve grossly mismanaged it) while holding on to the total shit, but I guess it's a question of price.
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The value in WB is going to be in the new media/streaming business and the divisions of that business. You could maybe sell HP as an IP with associated studios and use that to fund projects moving forward.
 
Mibu no ookami said:
They were trying to sell the studios but not the IP. So no surprise no one was interested.




The value in WB is going to be in the new media/streaming business and the divisions of that business. You could maybe sell HP as an IP with associated studios and use that to fund projects moving forward.
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So what is WB after they sell? A bunch of shit that loses money? They'll cease to exist.
 
diffusionx said:
So what is WB after they sell? A bunch of shit that loses money? They'll cease to exist.
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WarnerMedia was spun off in 2022 by AT&T, and they merged with Discovery. The idea here (I would imagine) is to spin them off again and they'll merge with someone else such as Sony.

Discovery being the holders of the debt will then use the money they make from the sale of WarnerMedia to pay it off.
 
diffusionx said:
So what is WB after they sell? A bunch of shit that loses money? They'll cease to exist.
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Depends on what you're calling WB and depends on what they sell.

The divisions they made based on IP related to gaming aren't key to their business. Their business existed long before these IP. Just like Columbia existed well before they made their first Spider-Man movie. Universal doesn't have any superhero IP now.

Part of why these franchise are as popular as they are is BECAUSE WB pumped money into them.

Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter were popular, but they weren't nearly as popular as they have been since the movie adaptations.

The overreliance on IP has a crutch in many ways.

But what's more likely is that WB sells as a whole (after the split) leaving the CNN and linear media business as a separate entity that will be purchased off by someone else who has interest in that area. Nextar or private equity would likely buy that up.
 
bitbydeath said:
WarnerMedia was spun off in 2022 by AT&T, and they merged with Discovery. The idea here (I would imagine) is to spin them off again and they'll merge with someone else such as Sony.

Discovery being the holders of the debt will then use the money they make from the sale of WarnerMedia to pay it off.
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This is exactly what we're looking at. They took out a 17.5 billion dollar bridge loan to restructure their debt. The entire idea here is to sell as quickly as possible. Find the best buyer for the media company and/or the divisions and then they'll hope to be pretty debt free and find a buyer for the linear media business and then stockholders get paid.
 
there is no acquisition here.

As usual, acquisition are made secret.
 
Warn bros/max/discover has been such a huge mess and hemorridging cash. Hopefully sony can turn them around otherwise it'll be another albatross.
 
I don't buy this one iota. I seriously doubt Sony is in a financial position to take on all those IPs.

I'd trust them a whole lot more than Microsoft, Embracer or Tencent.
 
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Why would they pay money to expose themselves to WB risk? They're already getting a cut of WB success without any exposure to the risk.
 
bitbydeath said:
Studio acquisitions often do leak for some reason. Eg.
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The reason is publicly traded companies vs private companies. A publicly traded company potentially being acquired means shareholders need to be notified and any deal would need to be voted on. So naturally leaks are unavoidable. Private companies don't need to deal with that.

That's why Sony trying to acquire Kadokawa was leaked, because both are publicly traded companies.
 
TheThreadsThatBindUs said:
Yes... Astrobot and GT7... such woke!!

Judge Judy Eye Roll GIF
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Yeah Japan sony games lets look at western Sony Spider-Man miles morales, Spider-Man 2 , ratchet, god of war , concord, this is first yr Sony hasn't pushed out happy pride month everywhere after they where blasted last yr for everyone of there developers changing there social to pride etc , no wonder the last Sony state of play was great 90% of games where from eastern studios that don't push agendas in there games
 
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Jinzo Prime said:
Why do Sony fans fantasize about multiplats going exclusive?
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Tiger blood.

Testosterone.

Multiplat other gamers lover:
Confused Cricket GIF


Exclusive demander:
Man Body GIF


Exclusives are just better games. When we share we all lose. Instead of sharing our exclusives we should actually teach you how to grow your own. It is like teaching a man to fish. j/k - truth is I own all the consoles(except switch 2, still trying) and PC and exclusives usually are better because they have been shepherded by Nintendo or Sony from day 1. I want Nintendo to care how the next exclusive is going to be so good it convinces someone to buy their console. If you look back, really, some of the best games ever released have been exclusive. When did Sony get sucky? When they started porting to PC. Stop porting SP games to PC and Playstation will last 10 more years. There are PC exclusives too. They are some of the best games on PC. I understand how it has been for years on the outside looking in, but you could have always bought the hardware. I'm not sure what type of mental gymnastics it takes to think a console is so beneath PC gaming that you won't buy a console to play exclusives that are really the lodestars of the industry. A lot of the smartest PC gamers I know are pretty ignorant on gaming history and even have never played some of the biggest and best games ever because they never touched an console. I've got PC friends that never played a mario game. They shit talk console gaming all the time.
 
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This is to counter Netflix vision of future of streaming entertainment. Netflix in 10 years will try to offer game streaming too.

Sony will also synergize streaming entertainment by offering HBO Max, Crunchyroll, and Playstation Plus Premium. This will not only increase subscribers but also retention. Families will not unsubscribe even if the show Mom is watching is over because son is still haven't finished his streaming game. Or that dad and son is on gaming hiatus for a while because mom is enjoying her movies and shows.

megreotsugua

Thread 'Gamepass Competitor: How about a Sony+? (PSNow+Funimation/Crunchyroll+Sony Movies&Shows)'

Edit: Please ignore the thread title saying it's a gamepass competitor.

I just realized this is not a game pass competitor but a Netflix (300M subs) and Disney+ (80M subs in a year) competitor targeting the masses who like entertainment but occasionally play games as well.

This has larger potential market than what MS is doing. This will go after the Netflix crowd (300M subscribers) with game streaming added into the mix. This is the kind of combination of service that will really bring gaming to the masses as opposed to what MS is doing. And Sony won't have to compromise their $70...
  • LOL
  • Like
  • Thoughtful
  • Fire
  • Triggered
  • Strength

Game streaming alone is a dead end. But the mass market entertainment streaming with gaming added in the mix is what will get the casuals into gaming too. And it will cause them to continue their subscription and not drop as a consequence. But the appeal must be the shows and movies, not the games. Gaming will be an added hook.
 
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I don't think Reee could handle both "Microsoft funding genocide" and Sony owning Transphobic Wizard Game.
 
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The Rocksteady that birthed the atrocity called Suicide Squad: Kill le Patriarchy fits in pretty damn well with Sony, so there would be no problem 🤣
 
Please don't enter the streaming market Sony, just sell content to the ones willing to lose billions on it.

The IP would be great though.
 
I think it would be good for sony and boost its gaming and tv portfolio they would have access to DC characters instead of spider-man

They have good gaming ips that could bring in revenue likes of DC Games Lego games and open world games likes of Harry Potter , middle earth , just cause ,

WB also owns F.E.A.R which i would if Sony made fear 3

I do also believe WB owns Cartoon network I would love for sony to bring that back with rerun of ur old great cartoons aka courage the cowardly dog , cow and chicken , dexter etc etc I can imagine a open world powerful puff gurls
 
PurePlatinum said:
They should really learn their lesson from the last three years, and maybe consider NOT buying anyone they aren't intimately familiar with.
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LOL, this isn't like buying a development studio...

Silver Wattle said:
Please don't enter the streaming market Sony, just sell content to the ones willing to lose billions on it.

The IP would be great though.
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Similarly, take in new information when it becomes available. It's not 2022. Most of these high subscriber streaming services are trending towards profitability now.

Sony's strategy of selling content is a good one for the time being, but long term that strategy has a lot of risks involved. Particularly, what happens when people stop paying top dollar for external content and instead focus on budget oriented internal content. Sony's strategy leaves itself at the whims of its business partners.
 
bitbydeath said:
This'll be round three for Sony as far as movie studio acquisitions go.

Fox - Lost to Disney
Paramount - Lost to Skydance Media
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They only showed interest in Fox, Paramount they walked away with zero attempts to outbid so I wouldn't say that's a lost, more of lack of interest.
 
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Kerotan said:
Would this acquisition be geared towards the movie and TV side with the gaming being an afterthought?
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If you look at the overall size and weight of the company, yes, it would be heavily geared toward film/tv.

For SIE it means supplanting Spider-Man with Batman. You almost have to do it for the cost savings given the royalties involved with Marvel, although, maybe it could be used to reduce the royalty costs, but I doubt it.

The rest of DC is almost impossible to create quality games out of. Marvel works because its characters tend to be more grounded at least when compared to most DC IP. Mortal Kombat is useless and similarly puts Sony on the outside looking in compared to just utilizing Arc System Works and having a partnership with Marvel.

Game of Thrones is another largely worthless gaming IP as is The Matrix.

That leaves you with Harry Potter which is probably just as large as Mario and could be even bigger. SIE would have to restructure its entire business around Harry Potter and the wizarding world to make this make any level of sense for SIE.
 
Mr Moose said:
Don't they do it already, previously with Vue, now Sony Pictures Core?
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Sony Pictures Core mostly serves as a legacy title catalog. They have a deal with Netflix so the new Sony films go there first. Also, they do own Crunchyroll and Funimation. So those are obviously streaming platforms.
 
I guess it could be a good thing here, because WB has been TERRIBLE at managing all their franchises, I'm not sure it can be worse.
I don't know what's up with them, but they ALWAYS take the worst decisions possible, both in movies and games.
 
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