Paramount has officially completed its $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, but the company’s announcement of the deal closing did not contain a single mention of video games. That’s notable because Warner Bros. Discovery is heavily invested in video games, and many may wonder what’s coming next.
CEO David Ellison says he is a big gamer himself, but whether or not that means anything for the future of games at the new company, now known as Skydance, is unknown. Ellison, the son of billionaire Oracle founder Larry Ellison, courted controversy due to his family’s dealings with Donald Trump and the current administration, with some industry observers believing the close relationship helped get the deal through the regulatory process.
Netflix originally secured the top bid for WBD and believed its deal would close, but Paramount swooped in with more money and a contract to buy the whole company, not just parts of it like Netflix was planning. For its part, Netflix executives spent time with Trump and his team as well. Co-CEO Ted Sarandos recently praised Trump for believing in and supporting the entertainment industry.
Skydance’s press release announcing the closing of the deal hypes up Ellison’s stated plans to put a minimum of 30 “high-quality” movies in theaters annually, and touts its “creative-first, audience-focused, tech-forward, and globally scaled” setup, but doesn’t mention video games at all.
The news release does mention that the combined companies will offer content for people “across every entertainment vertical,” and that would seemingly include video games. But the brief does not include any specifics. GameSpot has followed up with Skydance seeking more information.
For what it’s worth, when Netflix was planning to buy WBD, the streaming giant was similarly quiet on its plans for video games, saying it did not factor in video games very much. This came despite how 2023’s Hogwarts Legacy was a bonafide juggernaut, selling more than 30 million copies.
While the release doesn’t mention video games specifically, it does call out scary and tough times ahead for the people who work there. One of the main bullet points in the release was that Skydance is planning at least $6 billion in “run-rate syngeries within three years,” which is likely a forecast for layoffs and cuts. Skydance’s official word, however, is that the savings will “primarily” come from “technology, integration and procurement, marketing and real estate rationalization.”
When big companies combine, layoffs often happen–it was the case for Microsoft, too, when it bought Activision Blizzard, with the company slashing thousands of jobs.
Skydance recently rolled out Paramount Games Studio, a team that folded in Skydance Interactive and Skydance New Media. Projects in the works at those studios are continuing, including Marvel 1943: Rise of Hyrdra and a new Star Wars game with Lucasfilm from Amy Hennig, now under the Paramount Games Studio banner.
With Skydance now running the show, the company takes ownership of numerous big gaming properties, including Hogwarts Legacy developer Avalanche Software and its publishing label, Portkey Games; Mortal Kombat and its developer, NetherRealm; and Batman: Arkham studio Rocksteady. Skydance is also now in charge of Lego developer TT Games, and numerous other developers, including WB Games Boston, WB Games Montreal, WB Games New York, WB Games San Francisco, and numerous other studios.
Beyond developing games themselves, Skydance is making the Call of Duty movie with Activision, which is due for release in 2028.