Warner Bros. Games set to move to Paramount on Oct 6
Paramount's Warner Bros. Discovery deal is set to close Oct 6. Which Warner Bros. Games studios and franchises move, and what nobody has said yet.
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Warner Bros. Games is set to become part of Paramount on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, the day Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery expect their merger to close, as long as the remaining customary closing conditions are met. A federal judge cleared the last legal hurdle on September 30, which puts Mortal Kombat, Batman: Arkham, Hogwarts Legacy and the studios that make them under the company that owns Paramount Pictures and CBS.
Key takeaways
- The merger is expected to close October 6, subject to customary closing conditions, after a judge approved Paramount's settlement with 12 state attorneys general on September 30.
- The games division goes with it: NetherRealm, Rocksteady, TT Games, Avalanche Software and WB Games Montréal, plus the games built on DC, Harry Potter, Mortal Kombat and Game of Thrones.
- The settlement is about movies, cable and jobs. Its published terms don't mention video games at all.
- As of October 1, neither company has said what happens to the games unit or its studios after closing.
What changed: the last hurdle is gone
U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín, of the Central District of California, approved the consent decree on Wednesday, September 30, TheWrap reports. The decree settles a lawsuit by 12 states, led by California, that argued the merger would cut output and raise prices.
With that, the Paramount Warner Bros. merger has a date. The same day, the two companies announced the expected closing date of October 6, "subject to customary closing conditions." Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders get $31 in cash per share, plus a small daily fee counted from September 30. TheWrap puts the deal at about $110 billion.
What the settlement requires, and what it leaves out
The terms, published by California Attorney General Rob Bonta on September 21, run for five years:
- At least 30 theatrical films a year in the first two years and 32 a year in the next three, with at least 4 independent films a year.
- At least $1.5 billion in extra U.S. film production over five years.
- A $47.5 million fund for workers displaced by the merger, and existing union contracts honored.
- Paramount's and Warner's cable channels negotiated separately, and Pluto TV kept free.
- An independent monitor. Missing the film target costs $30 million per film, paid to union health and retirement funds, and can force the sale of Paramount's 49% stake in Miramax, according to TheWrap.
Nothing in those terms covers games. The settlement doesn't require Paramount to keep any game studio open, keep a team together or keep publishing on any platform. The published terms are about theaters, production spending and pay TV.
Which Warner Bros. Games studios and franchises move to Paramount
Insider Gaming lists the game franchises Paramount is set to own once the deal closes: Batman and DC, Harry Potter, Mortal Kombat and Game of Thrones. Those are the four franchises the games unit reorganized around in 2025. The studios behind them:
| Studio | Best known for |
|---|---|
| NetherRealm Studios | Mortal Kombat, Injustice |
| Rocksteady Studios | Batman: Arkham, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League |
| Avalanche Software | Hogwarts Legacy |
| TT Games | The Lego games |
| WB Games Montréal | Gotham Knights |
Portkey Games, the label on Harry Potter games, moves too. The catalog is big: TheWrap reported in March more than 200 million Lego games sold, more than 100 million for Mortal Kombat and more than 40 million copies of Hogwarts Legacy. The same report recalls that Warner already closed Monolith Productions, Player First Games and WB Games San Diego in its 2025 restructuring.
What Paramount has said about games
Very little, and nothing specific to Warner's studios. In March, Game Developer noticed that Paramount's investor presentation mentioned Warner's "cutting-edge gaming and interactive content capabilities" once, on a slide. Asked then about selling noncore assets, CEO David Ellison said Paramount had "no divestitures planned at this time." A Paramount spokesperson declined to comment to TheWrap for its March piece on the games unit.
Paramount does have its own games plans. In June it launched Paramount Games Studio, led by Tony Driscoll, with a first slate that includes Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra, an untitled Star Wars game, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin and Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game. Paramount hasn't said whether Warner Bros. Games will join that division or stay separate.
The closing announcement and the settlement don't address the games unit either.
What is still unknown about the studios
No official answer exists yet to the questions players care about most:
- Whether WB Games stays its own unit or folds into Paramount Games Studio.
- Who runs it after closing.
- Whether any studio is closed, sold or merged with another.
- Whether games in development keep their plans and platforms.
Outside views exist, but they are opinions, not plans. In March, TheWrap quoted NYU's Joost van Dreunen saying merged companies tend to become risk averse and freeze riskier projects, and investor Aaron Meyerson calling Avalanche and NetherRealm cornerstone assets while seeing TT Games and the Montréal studio as more exposed. Paramount has confirmed none of it.
What happens next
The date to watch is Tuesday, October 6, when the deal is expected to close. After that, the first sign of Paramount's plans will be an announcement about who leads games and how the units fit together. For more coverage of the industry, follow the video games section and the Paramount tag.
Bottom line
If the deal closes as expected on October 6, Paramount will own Mortal Kombat, Batman: Arkham, Hogwarts Legacy and the studios that make them. The court settlement that cleared the way protects film output and cable prices, not game studios, and Paramount hasn't said anything yet about what it will do with Warner Bros. Games. Until it does, any talk of studio closures or sales is speculation.
FAQ
When does Paramount take over Warner Bros. Games?
The companies expect the merger to close on October 6, 2026, subject to customary closing conditions. The games unit comes with the rest of Warner Bros. Discovery at that moment, not as a separate deal.
Which game studios does Paramount get?
NetherRealm Studios, Rocksteady Studios, Avalanche Software, TT Games and WB Games Montréal, plus the Portkey Games label. Monolith Productions, Player First Games and WB Games San Diego were closed in 2025, before the deal.
Does the settlement protect game studio jobs?
Not specifically. The published terms cover film output, U.S. production spending, cable negotiations and a $47.5 million fund for displaced workers, and they don't mention video games.