It looks like Netflix won't be acquiring Warner Bros. Games after all
The tug-of-war for the soul of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD)—and by extension Warner Bros. Games—has seemingly been won by Paramount Skydance.
That's despite Netflix previously entering into a definitive agreement to acquire Warner Bros. for a total enterprise value of approximately $82.7 billion.
Not to be outdone, Paramount made a rival proposal that was initially rebuffed by Warner Bros., whose board of directors continued to recommend stockholders approve the Netflix deal and reject the revised offer from Paramount.
Netflix looked set to seal the deal after Warner Bros. scheduled a special meeting for March 20, 2026, to approve the transaction. That was before Paramount tabled another offer at a purchase prise of $31.00 per WBD share that Warner Bros. described as a "superior proposal."
By contrast, Netflix's offer constituted a purchase price of $27.75 per WBD share.
Netflix has now declined the chance to revise its offer, with co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters explaining the deal is "no longer financially attractive."
"The transaction we negotiated would have created shareholder value with a clear path to regulatory approval. However, we've always been disciplined, and at the price required to match Paramount Skydance's latest offer, the deal is no longer financially attractive, so we are declining to match the Paramount Skydance bid," they said in a statement.
"Warner Bros. is a world-class organization, and we want to thank David Zaslav, Gunnar Wiedenfels, Bruce Campbell, Brad Singer and the WBD Board for running a fair and rigorous process. We believe we would have been strong stewards of Warner Bros.' iconic brands, and that our deal would have strengthened the entertainment industry and preserved and created more production jobs in the U.S. But this transaction was always a 'nice to have' at the right price, not a 'must have' at any price."
The potential merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. still requires regulatory approval, so expect more twists, turns, and headlines before the dust has settled.
In the meantime, the future of Warner Bros. Games—which was only briefly mentioned during Netflix's merger announcement—remains unclear.
The division was recently restructured around key franchises like Game of Thrones, Mortal Kombat, and Harry Potter following the closure of multiple internal studios, including MultiVersus developer Player First Games and Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor developer Monolith Productions.
It currently houses notable studios such as Mortal Kombat creator NetherRealm, Batman: Arkham developer Rocksteady, and LEGO custodian TT Games.
The reorganization came after the high-profile failure of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which preceded the exit of Warner Bros. Games president David Haddad.
Game Developer has reached out to Paramount for comment.
