News
Warner to take back licences in new games blitz
Neil Long Aug 24 2007, 3:27pm
Comments (6)
Media colossus returns to games publishing with plans to become a billion dollar division within five years
Speaking exclusively to MCV, senior VP of worldwide sales and distribution Ron Scott revealed that plans are in place to take back Warner licences like Superman, Batman, Harry Potter and The Sopranos.
“You’ll see a large percentage of Warner properties come on board as we develop the extra capability we need,” he said.
He went on to state that the firm was ready poach the industry’s finest talent, invest heavily in development and leverage its existing distribution network to shake up the status quo.
Having already released two ‘test run’ titles in the US, Warner recently set up shop in London and now has plans to self-publish in the UK and Europe.
But the aggressive push isn’t just reliant upon its existing IP – Warner also plans to cherry pick the best original IP and development studios.
“We’re in this for the long haul,” Scott told MCV.
“It is vital to be a fully-functional publisher. We are not just an arm of a business that is simply going to leverage the movie properties that Warner has – we are going to be a creative force as well.”
And with the might of its existing Home Entertainment empire behind it, Warner is confident that it can sell games based on its own IP more effectively than any licensee.
“The ability to cross promote our games product with our movie product in a compelling way will be key,” added Scott. “Our home video guys are very keen to target PS3 and 360 owners with next-gen movie formats. There are huge marketing and cross-merchandising possibilities.”
Do you work in the industry? Email MCV with your opinion to air your views on our letters page in next week’s magazine…
Comments
“mmmmmm......”
Posted by: warren - Aug 25, 1:20am
Fresh meat.
Should create more diversity I suppose.
“Hmm...”
Posted by: sam timp - Aug 29, 1:08am
...I bet a lot of games industry types want to defect to work there now!
Also, there's a better read about Warner, with the head of WBIE - not some sales and marketing guy - over at Develop: http://www.developmag.com/interviews/52/Brothers-in-arms
It's not as sensational as this story, thankfully.
“Re: Hmm...”
Posted by: gameguy - Aug 31, 4:05pm
We saw this once before when all the media companies stormed into gaming, started big divisions, made big investments, lost big cash, and then stormed back out again. Looks like they've dusted off that playbook for a second go. To their credit however, the landscape IS quite different this time around. But, it will be interesting to see how flexible they are in learning the space as opposed to attempting to bend it to their will. Culturally there are HUGE bugaboos waiting for them as they attempt to work with "the best original IP and development studios".
“Unknown”
Posted by: James - Nov 25, 5:12am
Gear up for grub with a tripleheader of pigskin, including a meeting of brothers in Dallas. Everybody knows it's been a rough year for her, but find out who else had issues
“Unknown”
Posted by: Jennifer - Nov 26, 5:16pm
The comic visited the land for the first time in decades to promote his anRrpWTYnkmcou new animated movie about bees, and he was treated like royalty literally
“Unknown”
Posted by: sasha brinkova - Dec 11, 3:59am
Contrary to popular belief, the end of the year is one of the best times to look for, awesome descion