Update: Remi Sklar from Warner Bros. Games contacted TheGamer in response to the rumours, saying: "I can confirm NetherRealm Studios and TT Games will continue to remain a part of Warner Bros. Games, and all are included in the Warner Media Discovery merger."
Original: Warner Bros. is looking to sell NetherRealm Studios and TT Games, according to documents seen by Windows Central's Jez Corden. The companies, best known for the Mortal Kombat and Lego series of games respectively, have both been part of Warner Bros. for over a decade, but are reportedly no longer considered “in the scope” of the publisher’s future.
Talking on his podcast, The Xbox Two, Corden claims that both NetherRealm and TT are “among the studios” that Warner Bros. considers selling in the document. This would include all TT Games subsidiaries.
The documents apparently do not suggest who would be interested in acquiring these prolific companies. However, rumours from last month had Microsoft down as a potential buyer, which would not be surprising, given its recent spending spree race with Sony.
Since the document claims that neither studio is within the scope of what Warner Bros. wants to do going forward, Corden hypothesizes that the decision will be tied to film performances. As he explains: “My guess would be that Warner Bros. weren’t happy with the performance of the Mortal Kombat movie, they weren’t happy with the performance of the Lego movies. Also, the whole Lego IP is licensed out of Denmark and that eats into their profits.”
Whatever the case, it’s not quite clear what is happening with NetherRealm right now. The rumour mill has it down for working on both Injustice 3 and a Marvel fighting game. If it is indeed about to be acquired however, it would align with recent events. Enough time has passed since the premiere of the recent Mortal Kombat movie for Warner Bros. to assess its multimedia franchise potential. It also has to be highlighted that NetherRealm very suddenly pulled the plug on Mortal Kombat 11, stating that there will be no more DLC.
As for TT, under the Traveller’s Tales subsidiary it has exclusively developed Lego games since 2007. The team is still working on Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. Development may be impacted by an acquisition however, as its early 2021 release date was pushed back, and no launch window has been announced since.