Warner Bros. Games will be included in Netflix's $82.7 billion acquisition of Warner Bros., a Warner Bros. Discovery spokesperson confirmed during a recent conference call, as spotted by Game Developer. The confirmation ends weeks of speculation about whether the streaming company would carve the interactive division out of the mega-deal.

The scale is enormous. Netflix agreed in early December 2025 to acquire the production giant for $82.7 billion, one of the largest media transactions in recent memory. While most analysis focused on the film, TV and streaming implications, the games division — and the studios it owns — now has a clear destination.

Which studios are moving to Netflix?

The deal places a substantial first-party development portfolio under Netflix's control. The studios affected include:

• Avalanche Software — developer of Hogwarts Legacy, the best-selling Harry Potter title
• Portkey Games — the label behind Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions
• NetherRealm Studios — creator of the Mortal Kombat franchise
• Rocksteady Studios — the studio behind the Batman: Arkham series and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League
• TT Games — the LEGO games specialist
• Warner Bros. Games Montreal — developer of Gotham Knights
• Support studios based in New York, Boston and San Francisco

Combined, that represents one of the largest collections of licensed-IP development talent changing hands in a single transaction.

What changes for the studios and their franchises?

The strategic question for the industry is how Netflix integrates a portfolio of this size into Netflix Games, its existing gaming initiative. Netflix's track record in the video game sector has been mixed, built largely around mobile titles included with its subscription. It has never operated developers of this scale or with franchises carrying this much weight.

Warner Bros., for its part, has struggled to manage its gaming business effectively in recent years, with uneven output across its studios. A change of ownership therefore carries both risk and plausible upside: Netflix gains proven developers and major IP, while the studios gain an owner with a stated ambition in interactive entertainment.

Nothing is decided yet about how franchises like Mortal Kombat, Batman: Arkham or Hogwarts Legacy will be positioned under new ownership — whether they remain premium releases, shift toward Netflix's subscription model, or adopt a hybrid approach. The studios' current projects and publishing arrangements will need to be reviewed as the deal closes.

Why does this matter for the wider games business?

The transaction reshapes the competitive picture in three ways.

First, it gives Netflix genuine first-party development capability overnight. Rather than building slowly through mobile acquisitions and licensing deals, the company inherits AAA-scale studios with established franchises and proven shipping records.

Second, it removes one of the largest licensed-IP holders from the open market. Franchises tied to DC and Harry Potter intellectual property will now sit inside a subscription-first company, which could reshape how those games are distributed and monetized in the long term.

Third, it signals continued consolidation at the top of the industry. Following Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, another major media-games portfolio has changed hands, further concentrating AAA development capacity among a small number of platform owners.

For the affected studios, the immediate practical questions are organizational: leadership structures, project pipelines and headcount planning will all be determined during the integration process. No details on those operational decisions have been announced.

What happens next?

The deal is not yet closed. Regulatory review, integration planning and the mechanics of transferring a games division within a broader media acquisition will take time, and the spokesperson's conference call comments did not include a timeline for when the studios would formally come under Netflix's control.

Watch for Netflix's next earnings call and any regulatory filings tied to the $82.7 billion transaction — those will be the first concrete signals of how quickly Warner Bros. Games' studios, franchises and teams move under the streaming giant's ownership.