Paramount expected to make $16 billion in cuts to WB if deal approved, WB Games may be affected

The Paramount-Warner Bros merger could interrupt WB Games, leading to project cancellations, studio closures, and other disruptions in the interactive entertainment unit.

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Now that Netflix has backed out of the bidding war, Paramount has all but secured its purchase of Warner Bros studios and content business, pending regulatory approval. New reports indicate that Paramount could make substantial multi-billion dollar cuts to Warner Bros in a bid to improve profitability. The cuts could be spread across the entire company, including WB Games, leading to even more layoffs and turbulence for creatives.

In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Netflix's co-CEO Ted Sarandos says that Paramount could make up to $16 billion in cuts in order to navigate the high debt incurred from the merger buyout. While speculative, Sarandos' words do ring with some truth, as companies typically make big reorganizational efforts following a merger.

Despite generating billions of dollars in sales revenue throughout its lifetime, especially with the mega-popular Harry Potter game Hogwarts Legacy, WB Games has been overlooked by both Paramount and Netflix; the latter didn't even value the games unit in its deal model.

Paramount too seems to dismiss WB Games, almost mentioning it in recent documents.

In early 2025, WB Games went through a round of restructuring that devastated key teams, including the closure of Monolith Productions, one of WB's biggest game content generators in the mid-2000s with the popular Lord of the Rings Middle-earth action duo.

Shortly after, when WB Discovery broke up, the WB Games division announced that it would now be focusing on four franchises: Mortal Kombat, DC, Harry Potter, and Game of Thrones.

The success of WB Games has been challenged in recent years with the disastrous launch of the Suicide Squad live game, which led to a heavy $384 million operating loss for the gaming division.