What Warner Bros. Can Learn From Netflix About Video Game Strategy 

Warner Bros. did it again.

Less than two years after creating a $1.45 billion box office hit from scratch with Mattel’s “Barbie,” the studio net a $163 million domestic opening and $300 million overall for last weekend’s “A Minecraft Movie,” licensed from the hit Mojang gaming experience owned by Microsoft.

But as welcome a success as this is for parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, it also exposes a world of difference between “Minecraft” and Warners’ own gaming efforts.

“Minecraft” is a powerhouse brand in gaming. Launched in 2011, it has since achieved more than 350 million units in sell-through for its base title alone.

It’s not Warners’ first go-round making a feature film tentpole out of top IP associated with games. The studio released “Pokémon Detective Pikachu” in 2019 to modest box office success, netting more than $400 million. More recently, Warner Bros. Discovery made the most of gaming on the TV side with HBO’s “The Last of Us,” which returns Sunday for its second season.

Still, “Minecraft” is a different beast.

MindGAME Data, a partner service to research and analytics firm Screen Engine/ASI, ranks “Minecraft” No. 1 when it comes to demand and interest for individual IP titles originating from video games, via a metric dubbed “mindSHARE,” from 2019 to the present.

Still, “Minecraft” is licensed IP, as is “The Last of Us.” The future of these gaming franchises is controlled by other entities and out of Warner Bros.’ grasp — as opposed to its own games division.

For as much as the games division has existed to translate top Warners IP into interactive experiences, it has never felt more out of sync with the film and TV strategy at WBD.

A highly ambitious “Harry Potter” remake series is in the works at HBO and could premiere as early as 2026, yet Warners still decided to cancel a story expansion for “Hogwarts Legacy,” the bestselling console and PC game of 2023 planned for later this year. Warners could have released it alongside a definitive edition packaging the new content with the base game.

Warners ought to pay close attention to this weekend’s streaming offerings if it wants to identify a different path forward.

“The Last of Us” is returning alongside the seventh season of “Black Mirror” on Netflix, which is accompanied by a mobile game called “Thronglets.” Unlike the movie tie-ins that were common many years ago and would translate the main story plots to quickly developed — but often poorly received — games, Netflix is approaching things differently, having developed a “Tamagotchi”-inspired title in tandem with one of the new “Black Mirror” episodes.

Per series creator Charlie Brooker, the game itself was conceived in preproduction and informed the style and tone of the game’s own presentation in the show’s “Plaything” episode.

Netflix is no stranger to the struggles Warners’ gaming division is going through. Former games chief Mike Verdu exited in March, ahead of the company’s GDC presentation, where new chief Alain Tascan outlined Netflix’s desire to double down on more affordable transmedia strategies such as “Thronglets.” 

It’s easier for a cloud-oriented company like Netflix to maintain an output of more quickly developed games for a subscriber base of 300 million than Warners, which is more associated with the AAA space where its “Mortal Kombat” still endures.

Nevertheless, there’s nothing to show on the gaming side when James Gunn’s “Superman” bows in theaters this July and soft-reboots the DC Universe.

Given its dwindling internal resources and the obvious enthusiasm audiences displayed for “A Minecraft Movie,” Warners must figure out an affordable way to bridge the transmedia gap between its own properties, as Netflix is doing.