Netflix will pay $82.7 billion in cash and stock to acquire Warner Bros., bringing Warner Bros. Games and its roster of internal development studios under the streamer after a competitive bidding process that drew Paramount and Comcast.

Warner Bros. Discovery announced the deal on December 5. Discovery Global will spin off into a separate, independent company before the acquisition closes. Warner Bros. Games, the publisher behind Hogwarts Legacy, Mortal Kombat and the Batman: Arkham series, will transfer with the parent.

Which studios move to Netflix?

Warner Bros. Games owns five internal studios:

• NetherRealm Studios — Mortal Kombat
• Avalanche — Hogwarts Legacy
• Rocksteady — Batman: Arkham series, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League
• TT Games — licensed Lego titles, including Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight
• WB Montréal — Batman: Arkham Origins, Gotham Knights

The games unit received minimal attention in the morning announcement. Chris Kerr, news editor at Game Developer, wrote that the division surfaced only once on the call: "Warner Bros. Games was briefly referenced during a conference call held this morning, when the Mortal Kombat logo was shown on a 'Business Overview' slide to highlight Warner Bros.' wider game and consumer product exploits — but that blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment was largely it."

Netflix's official release mentioned only Squid Game and Game of Thrones under its gaming references. A subsequent call between Kerr and a Warner Bros. Discovery representative confirmed the games division would transfer.

What does Netflix bring to the table?

Netflix has assembled a gaming arm largely through mobile titles bundled into its subscription tier, including Cut the Rope, Dead Cells and Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The streamer acquired Night School Studios (Oxenfree) in September 2021. As of late October, Netflix is collaborating with Don't Nod (Life Is Strange) on an unannounced adaptation of a "major IP."

The shift in scale is substantial. Every Warner Bros. Games studio operates in a multi-platform console and PC space materially different from Netflix's mobile-first footprint. Studio leads inside NetherRealm, Rocksteady, Avalanche, TT Games and WB Montréal now face integration with a buyer whose first-party console publishing track record is essentially zero.

That gap produces a short operational checklist: distribution (Netflix app ecosystem versus Steam, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo storefronts), monetization (premium boxed product versus ad-supported subscription), and engine plus tooling standards across five separately constructed production pipelines.

How long will this take, and what's the regulatory risk?

Transaction close is estimated at 12–18 months, with antitrust authorities under no obligation to expedite a deal at this dollar value.

The closest recent benchmark is Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, closed in October 2023 after an extended Federal Trade Commission challenge. Subsequent cost-cutting inside Microsoft Gaming produced thousands of layoffs, the closure of studios including Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks, and price increases for Xbox consoles and Game Pass Ultimate.

The trajectory offers a cautionary precedent. Studio roadmaps, reporting structures and platform strategies at Warner Bros. Games will likely stay in flux through close. Engineering and production teams will operate under a corporate parent that has yet to articulate a console publishing thesis.

Next to watch: regulatory filings in the U.S., EU and UK; any second-request from the FTC; and the first formal integration memo from Netflix outlining platform strategy across the five acquired studios.