Batman: Arkham and Mortal Kombat publisher Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (best known as WB Games) will soon go through an odd transition, as it and its games will be split up as a result of a parent company merger. Owner AT&T has merged WarnerMedia with Discovery to create an all-new company, resulting in a lot of major entertainment pillars, such as WB Games, and their properties being shifted around. WB's gaming arm is reportedly being split up between between AT&T and this new iteration of WarnerMedia, leaving several big studios and games' fates currently unknown.
Last summer, it was heavily rumored that EA were circling the deal. Nothing ever came of it and it was assumed that maybe Warner Bros. just realized what it had, making it too hard to let go. It's possible that this was actually a sign of a shake-up at AT&T and the tech giant was trying to get its gaming division out of the way to make things easier for this Discovery deal.
According to AT&T pulled WB Games' sale off the table in September 2020, but perhaps the newly negotiated split was one of many key highlights of AT&T's merger plans.
Right now, there's no telling what the developer will look like once it comes out the other end of this deal. WB Games is comprised of 11 studios, including Rocksteady Games (Mortal Kombat). Most of these studios have substantial games in development, many of which are releasing in 2022, so it's unclear if or how those titles will be impacted. It's possible that AT&T could keep some development teams together and mobile while the IP are divvied to up to either company, but there are no concrete details at press time.
WB Games has one of its strongest lineups ever for 2022, following the LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga next year. WB Games holds the rights to some of the biggest entertainment properties in the industry, so it can certainly be hoped none of these major projects will be canceled and that no studios are dramatically impacted by this merger. It's likely more details will follow in the coming weeks and months as the deal's ink dries.
Source: Stephen Totilo, Julia Alexander