Netflix is buying entertainment giant Warner Bros in a deal valued at around $82.7 billion.

The acquisition will see the streaming giant own the film and streaming business of Warner Bros Discovery, which – as of July 2025 – includes the company's video games division.

As a result, if the deal is approved, Netflix will soon be the owner of developers Rocksteady, NetherRealm, Avalanche and TT Games.

In buying Warner Bros, the company has outbid both Comcast and Paramount Skydance. The news was formally announced today.

The deal is set to close after Warner Bros Discovery spins off Discovery Global into a new publicly-traded company. That is expected to occur in Q3 2026, meaning the sale would complete by September 30th, 2026.

"Our mission has always been to entertain the world," Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said.

"By combining Warner Bros.' incredible library of shows and movies – from timeless classics like Casablanca and Citizen Kane to modern favourites like Harry Potter and Friends – with our culture-defining titles like Stranger Things, KPop Demon Hunters and Squid Game, we'll be able to do that even better. Together, we can give audiences more of what they love and help define the next century of storytelling."

Warner Bros Discovery president and CEO David Zaslav added: "Today's announcement combines two of the greatest storytelling companies in the world to bring to even more people the entertainment they love to watch the most. For more than a century, Warner Bros. has thrilled audiences, captured the world's attention, and shaped our culture. By coming together with Netflix, we will ensure people everywhere will continue to enjoy the world's most resonant stories for generations to come."

Warner Bros Discovery was formed after WarnerMedia and Discovery merged in April 2022. In June 2024, it was reported that Zaslav were exploring breaking up the company, before officially announcing this move in December of last year.

The company's video games business has struggled in recent years, with the outsized success of 2023's Harry Potter Hogwarts Legacy being followed by the heavily loss-making Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League. In November 2024, Warner Bros Discovery said the division was "substantially underperforming", before long-time Warner Bros Games president David Haddad stepped down in January 2025.

The following month, the company closed developers Monolith Productions, Player First Games and Warner Bros San Diego, adding that these closures signal a "strategic change in direction".

In June of this year, Warner Bros changed how its games arm was structured as it focused on its core IP: Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Mortal Kombat and DC Comics.

Netflix itself already has a games business, though has made some studio and job cuts in this division in the last year. Most recently, the company sold back Spry Fox to its founders having bought the developer in November 2022.

The Russian government has stopped its citizens from being able to access games platform Roblox, in part due to it allegedly featuring "LGBT propaganda."

BBC News reports that the country's Roskomnadzor media censorship agency has blocked access to the service over concerns about the content it features.

Local news outlet TASS says that Roblox has been used for distributing propaganda and justifying "extremist and terrorist activity."

In addition, Roskomnadzor has taken issue with the platform featuring information about "LGBT issues." The agency also claims that Roblox is unable to make sure that content on its service is safe.

Roskomnadzor described Roblox as being "rife with inappropriate content that can negatively impact the spiritual and moral development of children."

Replying to the situation, Roblox insisted that it not only abides by the rules where it operates, but is also committed to making sure users are safe.

"We respect the local laws and regulations in the countries where we operate and believe Roblox provides a positive space for learning, creation and meaningful connection for everyone," a spokesperson said.

"We have a deep commitment to safety and we have a robust set of proactive and preventative safety measures designed to catch and prevent harmful content on our platform."

Roblox is far from the only Western video game that Roskomnadzor has come after; last month it emerged that Valve removed a game from its Steam platform that featured LGBTQ+ content at the behest of the Russian regulator.

Notably, it's alleged that the agency also contacted the App Store and Google Play, both of which ignored the request.

The Iraqi government also banned Roblox earlier this year, while Türkiye blocked access to the platform in 2024.

Roblox has long come under fire for its ability to keep users safe. The company recently rolled out a voluntary age check scheme to ensure that those on the platform were as old as they said they were.

More recently, CEO Dave Baszucki conducted a "tense" interview with the New York Times' Hard Fork podcast where he was pressed on Roblox's child safety record with the backdrop of several lawsuits claiming that Roblox is not doing enough.

Tech giant Meta is reportedly looking to make cuts in its Reality Labs metaverse division, the home of the Quest VR headest and the Horizon Worlds platform.

That's according to Bloomberg, which reports that execs at the company are eying up budget reductions of as much as 30% during 2026. Layoffs might be take place as early as January.

The company is planning cuts across the board, but more extensively to the metaverse division because it has not seen significant competition in the space, according to sources speaking to Bloomberg. Investors and analysts have been demanding the company reduce its heavily lossmaking investments in the sector, which run at billions of dollars per quarter.

The firm is reportedly not looking to abandon its metaverse plans, but is moving the money it is saving with these cuts into its augmented reality glasses, currently produced in partnership with Ray-Ban, according to additional reporting by the New York Times.

“Within our overall Reality Labs portfolio, we are shifting some of our investment from Metaverse towards AI glasses and wearables, given the momentum there. We aren’t planning any broader changes than that,” a Meta spokesperson told the FT.

Following the Bloomberg report, the company's stock shot up 5.5% when the markets opened on Thursday morning, suggesting investor approval for the changes. Meta's share price ended the day 3.4% higher.

In February 2025, Meta disclosed that despite its Meta Quest hardware yielding $1.08 billion in revenue, the Reality Labs division recorded a $4.97 billion loss. This part of the company has been in the red for much of its existence and lost over $70 billion since the company pivoted to focus on the metaverse.

For the three months ending September 30, 2025, Meta reported a $4.4 billion operational loss – largely in line with the previous year's figures – while for the nine months ending September 30th, this loss comes to $13.2 billion, a 3% increase year-on-year.

Meta CFO Susan Li told investors that the company expected lower Reality Labs revenue for its Q4, which ends on December 30, 2025.

Facebook rebranded as Meta Platforms back in 2021, such was Zuckerburg and co.'s conviction that the metaverse was the future of digital communication.

Despite Meta's more recent focus on AI, the company announced last month that it was cutting 600 jobs from its Superintelligence Labs division.

The cuts would be the latest in a series of significant job losses at the company. In January of this year, Meta cut 5% of its workforce, estimated to be around 3,600 staff, while in 2023, it laid off 10,000 workers and retired 5,000 open roles.

Update: Gregorios Kythreotis has confirmed that he and Shedworks co-founder Daniel Fineberg "have gone [their] separate ways."

"Daniel and I are both working on our own projects now," Kythreotis told GamesIndustry.biz. "Shedworks will continue to exist as the developer of Sable, but with no new projects. Eteo will be the studio for my projects going forward."

Original story: Shedworks co-founder Gregorios Kythreotis has founded a new studio called Eteo.

Based in London, the independent studio is working with a global group of collaborators to make "vibrant game worlds with a distinctly mischievous flavour."

Its debut game is currently in development, and planned for release in 2027.

The title is supported by Outersloth, the indie games fund created by Among Us developer Innersloth last June.

Next January, Eteo will debut a "collective newsletter project" called Archetypes. It aims to "give writers the space to examine aspects of video game design with each article examining themes relevant to Eteo's design philosophies."

"Sable was our first really big game, it changed my life completely," Kythreotis said in an announcement video. "Eteo is sort of the next step with that."

He continued: "Taking everything I've learned from studying architecture, from Shedworks, from Sable, and applying that to new creative explorations, projects that are really personal, but carry on with that lineage of world building, of storytelling, and games that really engage people on an emotional level."

Kythreotis founded Shedworks with Daniel Fineberg in 2014, and was creative director on its debut game Sable.

Released in 2021, the title won Best Debut Indie Game at The Game Awards.