AT&T looking to sell WB Interactive (includes Rocksteady and NRS)

[Gamer68]

Everybody hating on EA, yet Battlefront 2 dlcs are all free, and one of their last titles (Jedi Fallen Order) will never have a single dlc. Companies change.

Speaking about changes, the abusive dlc policy has only gotten worse and worse in mk title after title since Warner controls the saga (I don't even want to think about the obscene amount of money all the dlc content in 11 will cost to the user that doesn't wait for the complete). I think a change would be a blessing indeed.

Yes, they play it safe with Star Wars now because they can't afford to mess it up again. Battlefront 1 was a disaster and they had to go into damage control mode. They even had to recognize their blunder at E3 on stage.

But then there are all the sports titles. Or even Sims 4, where you have to pay around $40 just to get cats and dogs in your game.

Not to mention they have had problems with getting their own IPs to take off. Anthem was a flop and they are completely remaking the game apparently. I'm a fan of Mirror's Edge but they missed the mark with the sequel, Catalyst. Even Battlefield seems to be having a rough time, it doesn't seem that BF1 or even BFV took off the way they had hoped.

Yes, I have my problems with WB. The season passes are too bulky and microtransactions aren't needed. But at least the microtransactions feel pointless and there is no need or pressure to buy them, and you could argue that even though they are bulky that at least the season passes are of value (in MK's case anyway). Point is it could be a lot worse. And I'm 99% sure EA would be a lot worse.

 

[PapaRegadetho]

Everybody hating on EA, yet Battlefront 2 dlcs are all free, and one of their last titles (Jedi Fallen Order) will never have a single dlc. Companies change.

Speaking about changes, the abusive dlc policy has only gotten worse and worse in mk title after title since Warner controls the saga (I don't even want to think about the obscene amount of money all the dlc content in 11 will cost to the user that doesn't wait for the complete). I think a change would be a blessing indeed.

If you want to pay 5$ for fricking BLUE instead of playing for it, then yeah , go ahead. You want lootboxes in your MK games? Also the base game for all MK games are actual complete games, can you say that for Battlefront 1 and 2 when they came out? How about the fact EA ruined so many good companies, some reputation, some straight out dissolving them. I will NEVER forgive them for deleting Visceral to oblivion.

 

[CrimsonShadow]

Please not Activision

 

[Nickolaidas]

Ideally, nothing really changes, right? NRS is still given the budget and discretion to make the game they want to make.

Actually, it matters fucktons.

EA is a company which has shown in the past that they have absolutely no qualms about dissolving a dev team and burying the IP if it doesn't meet their high standards. They killed Dead Space and the dev team which made it, put Mass Effect on ice because the latest entry didn't sell as well as they estimated, and they WILL kill MK if people don't buy it day one.

So yeah, it matters.

Everybody hating on EA, yet Battlefront 2 dlcs are all free, and one of their last titles (Jedi Fallen Order) will never have a single dlc. Companies change.

This wouldn't have happened if they didn't get the world's biggest backlash after their horrible and scummy business practices.

 

[Zviko]

EA DLCs free? I don't know about Battlefront but this is what ruined Battlefield V. You have no idea what you are getting in the future, if anything at all and they can stop the development at any time if there's no interest in the game anymore.

Just check the Battlefield forums. Community actually WANTS Premium Pass back for the next Battlefield. That way they are guaranteed future and quality content. And you have no idea you feel that way until you experience it.

 

[ticklebandit!]

Please God not EA.

Imagine if EA opened a restaurant. You'd order and get half of an uncooked steak, and then you'd get the other cooked piece a week later but you'd have to pay 5 bucks per bite.

 

[xX_Atrocitus_Xx]

Take two seems to give rockstar great freedom to run their game though obviously their game life cycles are too long. If anyone were to buy it take two has my vote though in other take two title they seem to go cheap on game engines and rehash shit so idk I’m happy with the curry situation. Change scares me in this situation.

 

[ItsYaBoi]

Take two seems to give rockstar great freedom to run their game though obviously their game life cycles are too long. If anyone were to buy it take two has my vote though in other take two title they seem to go cheap on game engines and rehash shit so idk I’m happy with the curry situation. Change scares me in this situation.

Take Two are the best option out of the names thrown around, undeniably. However, Rockstar are very very unique. They are pretty much untouchable because of how much of a golden goose they are. We saw this with the GTA V mod situation. Take Two wanted rid, Rockstar didn’t. Take Two caved. They don’t want to piss off the company that creates games that break records every single time, and who have the most profitable piece of media ever made under their wing (GTA V).

However, NRS games make some good money too. Nowhere near GTA/RDR levels, but very profitable none the less. So one would assume Take Two wouldn’t meddle too much.

Take Two aren’t perfect though. See: NBA 2K. Utterly disgusting use of micro transactions, in fact it may be one of the worst game franchises ever for this. I don’t see them trying to implement too much of this in NRS games if such a deal went through, because they aren’t annual sports games in which they just want to rinse as much out of the whales who buy it year on year as possible. There’s more of a budgetary cost with NRS games than sports games, and they don’t want to risk not recouping it by pissing people off by being too greedy. Businesses aren’t stupid, they are quite reactive. The Battlefront II shit storm is one of the most publicised issues in games media, they do not want that on their hands. Plus, other games from less successful franchises (Mafia) haven’t been riddled with transactions under Take Two. At worst we’ll get the system we have now under WB.

But yeah, this kind of shit takes a long time anyway. There’s some real unnecessary panic in this thread just because people saw EA and Activision.

 

[Error404]

Even if there was a deal it would take years to negotiate and get approved from whatever agency handles anti-monopoly laws in the USA.

 

[Wigy]

I mean ive just about lost all love for the developers so couldnt give a shit tbh.

 

[Nero2196]

No just NO. This is incredibly worrisome for the future of the franchise. I have my share of criticisms regarding the business practices of WB and how they are incorporating them into MK11 but it's nothing compared to what EA or Activision could potentially do. They will completely obliterate everything that is great about MK11 and adopt a catastrophically greedy, mobile esque business model.

Also, does this mean my boi Havik is cancelled?

 

[xXRagingFlameXx]

I don't like any of our options there.

But since MK11 is probably the last MK game we're gonna have for a while anyway.

I wouldn't mind if Disney bought all of that. We'd get that Injustice-esque Marvel fighting game I've been yearning for. Disney's got a ton of money. So they could probably toss as much as NRS needs to do whatever they want. Honestly, anything is better than some of those options.

 

[KenshiMaster16]

If any company needs to get in on this its Microsoft. They did wonders bringing Killer Instinct back. It would be a huge incentive for them to get NRS and Rocksteady under their umbrella. If they get temporary rights to Batman under a shared licensing agreement, there would be healthy competition with Sony / Spider-Man. They would be in great company with the other studios and they are miles better than the three currently interested. And hey, KI guests while we're at it.

 

[xXRagingFlameXx]

If any company needs to get in on this its Microsoft. They did wonders bringing Killer Instinct back. It would be a huge incentive for them to get NRS and Rocksteady under their umbrella. If they get temporary rights to Batman under a shared licensing agreement, there would be healthy competition with Sony / Spider-Man. They would be in great company with the other studios and they are miles better than the three currently interested. And hey, KI guests while we're at it.

Microsoft bagging a Batman exclusive would be hype

 

[KenshiMaster16]

Microsoft bagging a Batman exclusive would be hype

Console wars at full hype mode.

PS5 - SF6 and Spider-Man
XSX - MK12 and Batman

 

[xXRagingFlameXx]

Console wars at full hype mode.

PS5 - SF6 and Spider-Man
XSX - MK12 and Batman

I think the console wars are dumb, but if these are the contenders.....I gotta be honest, I'd go for XSX. I feel like Xbox acquiring this would legitimately make it a contender. Spider-Man is dope and is honestly the ONLY reason I'm considering a PS5...but Batman? MK12? And Hellblade? C'mon now. That would be way too sick.

 

[xXRagingFlameXx]

Imagine Senua as a guest in MK12. Hell yeah.

 

[Suntory]

If any company needs to get in on this its Microsoft. They did wonders bringing Killer Instinct back. It would be a huge incentive for them to get NRS and Rocksteady under their umbrella. If they get temporary rights to Batman under a shared licensing agreement, there would be healthy competition with Sony / Spider-Man. They would be in great company with the other studios and they are miles better than the three currently interested. And hey, KI guests while we're at it.

I've always wanted my girl B. Orchid as a guest!

 

[Eldriken]

Any of you that have faith in EA OR Activision need to do some research. Blizzard seemingly went to shit when Activision came into the mix. The same thing happened with Mass Effect once EA joined the fray instead of it just being BioWare.

EA had to do some of the biggest damage control I've seen for a video game Battlefront 1. Who at that company that have a say in any design choices allowed some of that shit to pass and think people would be HAPPY with it? Then you have Anthem. HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN? Oh, right. Having the wrong people overlooking the development of things.

EA nor Activision deserve to have anything to do with NRS. The day that happens is the day that NRS/MK/Injustice begins to die.

 

[Art Lean]

So what does this mean for MK's wider multimedia properties outside of the games? Warner Bros now distribute the older 90s Threshold productions of MK95, Annihilation and Conquest, along with producing the new properties of Legacy, Legends and the upcoming 2021 movie.

Would they lose ownership of the whole IP, or would things go back to how segregated they were in the 90s were rights were being held by one company for the games and another for the televised spin-offs?

Was loving it all being under the WB umbrella as we were seeing more and more from the 90s televised productions being embraced, referenced and some elements even made canon in the NRS games after Threshold lost their lawsuit, made it feel more of a unified universe (irrespective of the fact that NRS regularly contradict their own universe, but I digress). I'd hate to see the franchise being split down the middle again and the repeat of lawsuits trying to claim ownership of characters, designs, ideas etc.

I know it says "Any company that does purchase WB Interactive will not gain the rights to IP like Batman or Harry Potter, which is owned by Warner Bros. Instead, any deal will likely include a “commercial licensing agreement where AT&T can continue to get revenue from its IP.” but those IPs exist first outside of the games, the games themselves are spin-offs. MK however is a game franchise first and foremost, whilst the films etc. are the spin-offs.

 

[ItsYaBoi]

I don't like any of our options there.

But since MK11 is probably the last MK game we're gonna have for a while anyway.

I wouldn't mind if Disney bought all of that. We'd get that Injustice-esque Marvel fighting game I've been yearning for. Disney's got a ton of money. So they could probably toss as much as NRS needs to do whatever they want. Honestly, anything is better than some of those options.

Disney don’t have a division dedicated to console games anymore, they lease their IP’s out.

Hence why Insomniac and Sony have Spider Man, and why Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics have The Avengers.

What you’re wanting doesn’t exist, Disney Infinity (or whatever that shitty toy game was called) was the final straw for them, and they announced the breakup of their console teams shortly after. Then not too long after they shut down the servers for their F2P top down game on console that was similar to Ultimate Alliance.

NRS could do a Marvel game wherever they wanted, providing that whoever the publisher is at the time could strike a deal with Disney. Ed Boon even said he had talks about a Marvel fighting game in an MK11 interview shortly before release.

 

[ItsYaBoi]

If any company needs to get in on this its Microsoft. They did wonders bringing Killer Instinct back. It would be a huge incentive for them to get NRS and Rocksteady under their umbrella. If they get temporary rights to Batman under a shared licensing agreement, there would be healthy competition with Sony / Spider-Man. They would be in great company with the other studios and they are miles better than the three currently interested. And hey, KI guests while we're at it.

Fuck this. Fuck this x1000. I don’t want MK to be console exclusive, thanks.

It would be a smart move from MS, but I hope to fucking god this never happens (and luckily it won’t).

 

[Rathalos]

Only Sony or Microsoft buying them is a decent outcome.
Id prefer MS because it means PC ports.

Any other dev an Mortal Kombat is basically dead.

At least we got 9-11.

 

[Nickolaidas]

If any company needs to get in on this its Microsoft. They did wonders bringing Killer Instinct back. It would be a huge incentive for them to get NRS and Rocksteady under their umbrella. If they get temporary rights to Batman under a shared licensing agreement, there would be healthy competition with Sony / Spider-Man. They would be in great company with the other studios and they are miles better than the three currently interested. And hey, KI guests while we're at it.

The reason I don't want Microsoft getting their hands on MK is the fact that I'll be forced to buy their consoles till the end of time. I recently decided to go PlayStation only in terms of consoles, and MS buying MK will cause me to buy X-Boxes forever. Or at least, force me to buy powerful gaming PCs.

 

[Rathalos]

Id rather have it console exclusive then not exist.

Micosoft and Sony are the only ones that will be willing to put the money and time into the franchise.

EA and Activision will kill the studio after one game.