The fate of Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment remains the subject of intense speculation since reports that parent company AT&T may be interested in selling, but an internal memo released to WarnerMedia staff has addressed stability amidst a major corporate shuffle.
CEO Jason Kilar sent the e-mail on August 7th, which has also been made available via the corporate press room. It addresses a drastic streamlining of divisions within the company, centered around the elevation of the HBO Max streaming service. This includes passing reference to WB Interactive, which will remain under the purview of WB Chair & CEO Ann Sarnoff. The relevant excerpt appears below:
The Warner Bros. Motion Pictures Group continues to be led by Chairman Toby Emmerich. Warner Bros. Television Studios group continues to be led by Chairman Peter Roth. Warner Bros. Interactive remains part of the Studios and Networks group, along with our Global Brands and Franchises team including DC led by Pam Lifford, and our Kids, Young Adults and Classics business led by Tom Ascheim, all focused on engaging fans with our brands and franchises through games and other interactive experiences.
The restructuring has seen massive layoffs at DC Comics and DC Universe streaming, both directly impacted by the prioritizing of HBO Max. DC Direct in-house merchandising has also suffered significant cutbacks according to a report by The Hollywood Reporter.
With the focus of the memo chiefly on HBO Max, few conclusions can be drawn regarding the future of Warner Bros gaming divisions. It is unclear if no news is good news, but business appears to continue as normal for now, with Rocksteady Studios announcing a Suicide Squad game, and NetherRealm Studios continuing to hire for key positions.
Ed Boon is scheduled to appear later this month at the DC FanDome 24-hour virtual fan event, which included Mortal Kombat 11 in a promotional hype trailer. MK11 is releasing new downloadable skins this month. The Injustice series also made a recent return with a new comic book series.
Will the release of this information settle things down before the convention? Share your thoughts in the comments below. Discuss these stories more in the Future MK and DC Universe Injustice forums.