The foundation of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (WBIE) underWarner Bros. was announced on January 14, 2004, along with theWB Games (Warner Bros. Games) brand, under which WBIE would publish games.Jason Hall, previously ofMonolith Productions, was named as itssenior vice president.[2] Before this, the Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment brand was used byWarner Bros. Consumer Products for licensing purposes since 1995 with thevideo game tie-in ofBatman Forever. In 2003, Warner Bros. co-published its first titleLooney Tunes: Back in Action as part of a partnership with theElectronic Arts subsidiary EA Distribution, becoming the first title published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.[3] In August, Warner Bros. purchasedMonolith Productions, becoming their first self-owned game developer.[4]
In 2005, the first game that Monolith developed in conjunction with Warner Bros. wasThe Matrix Online, whichSega helped co-publish. In July, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced the release of its first self-published title,Friends: The One with All the Trivia, forMicrosoft Windows and thePlayStation 2, on November 15, 2005. The game would be distributed throughWarner Home Video, and would tie-in with the release of theFriends complete series DVD boxset.[5] In October, Warner Bros. createdWarner Bros. Home Entertainment and WBIE was transferred as part of it.[6]
In 2007, they implemented a five-year plan, the goal of which was to expand in thevideo game industry and included the acquisition of studios for internal development and the creation of a studio (WB Games) in theSeattle area that will run all the gamespublished anddeveloped by the company;[9] the first acquisition under this plan was Britain'sTT Games that same year, for £100 million. The deal included the publishing division of the company, developersTraveller's Tales and TT Fusion, motion capture studio TT Centroid, and animation studio TT Animation.[10]
In April 2008, Warner Bros. announced that it had increased its stake in SCi Entertainment to 35%, allowing WBIE to distribute Eidos Interactive titles in North America.[11] On December 15, 2008, shortly after SCi changed their name toEidos plc, Warner acquired a total of 10 million shares of the company, raising its owned amount to 19.92%, after an agreement which prevented Time Warner from acquiring more shares was scrapped one month earlier.[12] On January 28, 2009,The Hollywood Reporter reported the deal also gave Warner the rights of theTomb Raider film series,[13] previously owned byParamount Pictures. On February 12, 2009, Warner Bros. backedSquare Enix's acquisition offer worth £84.3 million for Eidos plc as majority stakeholder.[14][15]
On February 4, 2009, WBIT purchasedSnowblind Studios.[16] The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the acquisition serves to strengthen the publisher's internal development effort. In August 2009, Warner announced that they would purchase a majority of the assets of American publisherMidway Games, operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, for $49 million. The assets purchased include Midway's studio in Chicago[17] andSurreal Software, resulting in the ownership to the rights to theJoust,Mortal Kombat,The Suffering,Spy Hunter andWheelman series, as well as the library of the formerAtari Games, which had previously been owned by Time Warner.[18] Midway had previously worked with Warner Bros. on several games, includingMortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. Midway intended to hold an auction of its assets on June 29, 2009, but no other bids were placed. On July 10, the sale to Warner was completed for approximatelyUS$49 million.[19] In the process, Warner became the owner of theBlitz: The League series. On July 28, 2009, Midway'sMortal Kombat team was rebrandedWB Games Chicago.[20]
On January 13, 2010, WBIT secured a worldwide licensing agreement withSesame Workshop to secure video game rights toSesame Street, starting in fall 2010 withElmo's A-to-Zoo Adventure andCookie's Counting Carnival.[21][22] On February 23, 2010, Warner Bros. Games purchased a majority stake in independent London-based developerRocksteady Studios, an independent development studio based inLondon. Rocksteady and Warner had previously worked together inBatman: Arkham Asylum andBatman: Arkham City, and have announced they will work in the future with more Warner Bros. licenses.[23] On March 22, 2010, WBIE became the latest videogame company to open a studio inQuebec. Martin Tremblay was chosen to lead the newMontreal studio,WB Games Montréal. The studio gradually grow to include more than 300 people by the end of 2015. Tremblay also said that Warner would open another studio in another city soon. He also said that WB Games Montréal will focus on creating games based on theDC Comics license.[24] On April 9, WBIE announced it would publish a third installment to theF.E.A.R. series in the fall of 2010.[25] On April 20, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group acquiredTurbine, Inc. the developer of the famous MMOsAsheron's Call,Dungeons & Dragons Online andThe Lord of the Rings Online.[26] On the same day, WBIT announced that the WB Games Chicago studio would be reincorporated as NetherRealm Studios[27] and shortly afterward announced a reboot ofMortal Kombat.[28] On June 4, WBHEG and Turbine announced that the massively multiplayer online titleThe Lord of the Rings Online would go free-to-play that autumn.[29] WBIE announced 6 days later thatMortal Kombat, a reboot of the series (and considered the series' most brutal installment to date), was due for release on thePlayStation 3 andXbox 360 in 2011.Mortal Kombat was developed by the newly renamedNetherRealm Studios, led by series creator and creative directorEd Boon.[30] Branching out fromGame Party for theWii, WBIE attempted to leverage theXbox 360's new full-body motion-sensing deviceKinect on June 14 and revealedGame Party: In Motion for the new device, set for a November 4 release as a launch title.[31]
In May 2011, Codemasters changed their North American distributor toTHQ.[32] However, the company would reinstate their distribution deal with Warner in March 2012 following THQ's financial difficulties.[33]
In 2013, afterKevin Tsujihara became chairman and CEO of Warner Bros., he promotedDiane Nelson to the post of President and Chief Content Officer of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.[34][35]
In January 2015, David Haddad was named Executive Vice President and General Manager of the company[36] and was promoted to President in October.[37]
In October 2016,AT&T announced its intentions to acquire Time Warner, making Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment a subsidiary of AT&T.[38] On December 19, 2016, it was announced that Warner Bros. would no longer develop or publishThe Lord of the Rings Online orDungeons & Dragons Online; further development of the game would be handled by a newly formed studio,Standing Stone Games, with publishing to be transitioned over toDaybreak Game Company. The new studio would take the old development team from Turbine, leaving Turbine as a mobile-only developer.[39] As part of the deal, Daybreak did not pick up the rights toAsheron's Call, an original IP created by Turbine and thus owned by Warner Bros. as part of the 2010 acquisition. This resulted in the closure ofAsheron's Call andAsheron's Call 2: Fallen Kings on January 31, 2017.[40]
On January 24, 2017, it was announced that recently-closed studioAvalanche Software and its Octane engine software were acquired by Warner Bros. fromDisney Interactive Studios and the studio was reopened, with John Blackburn returning as its CEO. The studio's first title under Warner was a companion video game to theDisney-Pixar filmCars 3, titledCars 3: Driven to Win, in partnership with Warner Bros., Disney, and Pixar.[41] On February 8, Playdemic was acquired through TT Games to make Lego games for mobile devices.[42] On July 11, 2018, it acquired Plexchat, a communications platform for mobile games, with its founder and staff joining WB Games San Francisco.[43][44]
In mid-2020, there had been industry rumors that AT&T, in order to raise funds, was looking to sell off parts of its divisions, with WBIE as one that had been rumored to be up for sale that would have raised $4 billion, according toCNBC andThe Information.[45][46] However, in an August 2020 press release regarding an organizational restructuring, WarnerMedia stated that WBIE "remains part of the Studios and Networks group".[47][48]Bloomberg News reported AT&T has confirmed to no longer be selling the game division, the decision to keep the division amid a change in leadership at AT&T in July of that year.[49]
In May 2021, AT&T announced that it was splitting off WarnerMedia for about$43 billion, where it would be merged withDiscovery, Inc. As part of this sale, there were rumors that only portions of WBIE would be moved with the bulk of the other WarnerMedia properties,[50] but WBIE would be retained as its previous additional brand, Warner Bros. Games, under the newly merged company namedWarner Bros. Discovery.[51][52] Playdemic was one of the few properties divested from the merger, with it being sold to Electronic Arts for$1.4 billion on September 20, 2021.[53] It was announced on April 7, 2022, that Warner Bros. Games was reorganized with streaming servicesHBO Max andDiscovery+ to formWarner Bros. Discovery Global Streaming & Interactive Entertainment, to be overseen by JB Perrette; WB Games president David Haddad would report directly to Perrette.[54] The merger was completed on April 8.[55]
In July 2024, Warner Bros. Games acquiredMultiVersus developer Player First Games.[56]
In July 2024, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), a labor union of which numerous video game voice actors are members, would initiate alabor strike against a number of video publishers, including WB Games, over concerns about lack ofA.I. protections for not only video game voice actors, but also the use of A.I to replicate an actor’s voice, or create a digital replica of their likeness.[57][58]
During the third quarter of 2024, in a financial call, Warner Bros. Discovery President and CEODavid Zaslav and CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels state that the underperformances ofMultiVersus andHarry Potter: Quidditch Champions had added another $100 million to the $200 million writedown to the company's games business in 2024.[59][60] Warner Bros. Games will now focus more on its four other successful franchises going forward, Zaslav added during the call.[61]
In January 2025, David Haddad announced that in the coming months he would be exiting his role as President after 12 years leading the games division.[62] In February 2025, Warner Bros. Games confirmed the closure of Monolith Productions, Player First Games and WB Games San Diego.[63] By June 2025, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that Warner Bros. Games would be restructured with a focus on the DC Universe,Harry Potter,Mortal Kombat, andGame of Thrones, and that the division would be part of the Streaming & Studios company when Warner Bros. Discovery will split in mid-2026. Yves Lachance, of WB Games Montreal, was promoted to oversee theHarry Potter andGame of Thrones titles, while NetherRealm's studio head Shaun Himmerick will oversee the DC Universe andMortal Kombat titles.[64]
^"Offer for Eidos plc". Square Enix Holdings Co Limited. February 12, 2009.Archived from the original on February 15, 2009. RetrievedFebruary 12, 2009.
^Brice, Katherine (April 9, 2010)."Warner Bros announces FEAR 3".gamesindustry.biz. Gamer Network.Archived from the original on September 21, 2016. RetrievedDecember 6, 2016.
^"Diane Nelson". DCEntertainment.com. 2014.Archived from the original on June 26, 2014.As President & Chief Content Officer of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Nelson has the additional responsibilities of overseeing the development, production and marketing of all video game titles for WBIE, including those based on DC characters, as well as other Warner Bros. properties and original IP.
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