- Netflix co-CEO Gregory Peters said the Warner Bros. Games division was ” relatively minor compared to the grand scheme of things”.
- The streaming firm expected Paramount Skydance’s bid and anticipates its deal will still go through.
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Netflix didn’t attribute any value to Warner Bros. Games as part of its $82.7 billion deal for the parent company, says co-CEO, president and director Gregory Peters.
Speaking during an investor call about the deal, Peters was asked whether the acquisition – which has been accepted by Warner Bros. Discovery but faces competition from Paramount Skydance – would accelerate its own gaming plans.
Peters said while Warner had done “great work in the game space, we actually didn’t attribute any value to that from the get-go because they’re relatively minor compared to the grand scheme of things”.
“Now we are super excited because some of those properties that they’ve built, Hogwarts is a great example of that, have been done quite well, and we think that we can incorporate that into what we’re offering,” stated Peters.
“They’ve got great studios and great folks working there. So we think that there’s definitely an opportunity there. But just to be clear, we haven’t built that into our deal model.”
“Super confident”
There has been mixed reaction to the Netflix deal in the industry. Turborilla CEO John Wright said the acquisition offer is a battle to “control the next decade of transmedia entertainment”.
Symbol Zero CEO Rafael Brown, meanwhile, said he expected Warner Bros. Games to start “hemorrhaging” a few months after the merger completes.
On whether the acquisition will complete, Peters said Paramount Skydance’s bid was entirely expected.
“We have a deal done, and we are incredibly happy with the deal. We think it’s great for our shareholders, we think it’s great for consumers,” he said.
“We think it’s a great way to create and protect jobs in the entertainment industry. We’re super confident we’re going to get it across the line and finish. So we’re excited.”
Any deal remains subject to regulatory approval.
Netflix’s games plans
Addressing Netflix’s progress with its current games division, Peters said a lot of work had gone into building the division’s infrastructure and creating a strategy over the past couple of years.
Last year the streaming firm appointed Epic Games EVP of development Alain Tascan as the president of its games division.
Earlier this year, it set out four focus areas: games for kids, games with widespread appeal, narrative games tied to Netflix IP, and multiplayer party games. Peters elaborated on the progress of these areas.
“A lot of work has actually been also understanding the strategy and sort of seeing, as we always say, you never know what you’ve got until you get out there with consumers and you figure it out,” he said.
“So we’ve learned a lot from that. Now we’re at the point where we’re really unlocking sort of the value of the strategic refinements that we’ve made which have been super exciting. You see a couple of different categories that we’re really going after and we feel are consistent with what we — the value we can deliver to members, which is differential, which is take immersive narrative games that are based on IP that we have.
“So you can imagine fans of Squid Games, going super deeper into that universe. It was actually fun because we did a fun game around golf, but not like I’d say an incredible masterpiece of the game around golf and then with Happy Gilmore, you see all these people that are playing it. So you see that need there. Kids is another space.
“We think we can give a very safe space for kids, no in-app payments, no ads and just give them a place to play there. Also taking story game IP and just finding another distribution range for that. We did it with Grand Theft Auto. We just released Red Dead Redemption, which as you can see is topping the game charts on mobile. So that’s another great example that’s there.
“And the fourth one is when we think about is social games. This is like family game nights, reinvented or maybe even the extension of what used to be the game show, right? And we released a bunch of games on the TV that is designed for folks to sit around the TV with our phones as controllers and play, I think Boggle, Pictionary, LEGO.
“And we’re seeing really big take-up in that — and then we’ve got a new game, quiz show game coming, Best Guess, which is super exciting, which gets into a little bit that game show space.”
Learn about transmedia opportunities at the Pocket Gamer Connects London Transmedia Summit on January 20th, 2026. Register for your tickets here.
