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Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.

seekingalpha.com

Seeking Alpha have provided the full transcript of WB's earnings report for Q3 2023. Here's the relevant parts about their gaming business:

Looking across our full portfolio, another area where we see particular opportunity is in gaming where we have 11 world class studios and are unique amongst our media peers as both a developer and publisher of games. Research has shown that Gen Z and Gen Alpha prefer gaming to any other form of entertainment, more than social media, more than watching television or listening to music, more than going to the movie theater. Games will be even more important to our fans in the future, and so having this asset in our arsenal is a critical differentiator and a real growth opportunity.

As a developer and publisher, we control quality and enjoy the full economic benefits of the games we produce as well as capturing the broader franchise benefits across the company. In 2023 we've released two of the industry's top 10 console games, including the number one game released this year, Hogwarts Legacy and we still have the Switch version to come, launching next week. Our Harry Potter fans have immersed themselves in Hogwarts legacy, playing more than 700 million hours to date. That engagement helps not only our games business, but also helps build and revitalize the entire Harry Potter franchise and we know our fans want even more.

We've worked really hard on our games business for the last year and a half. And it's also a business where we have had a strong track record. Games have been a very successful and steady segment for Warner Bros. for over a decade. We've been profitable in each of the last 15 years averaging more than $400 million in EBITDA the last three years alone. We believe games is a critical and very valuable asset for the company with a great deal of potential for growth. Games has consistently enjoyed among the highest ROIs of any of our businesses. And while we're smaller than some of the leading pureplay gaming companies, our operating margins are comparable to the best of the public companies. We're clearly punching above our weight and we're just getting started.

And similar to the leaders in the industry, we've led with multiple key franchises, each of which is $1 billion gaming property. Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, DC, which is mainly Batman today, and Mortal Kombat, whose most recent release, Mortal Kombat 1 has sold nearly 3 million copies since its launch in mid-September. So we've got the proven IP and franchises, the world class studios and publishing talent and we intend to continue to invest more capital and more resources into the business.

Our focus is on transforming our biggest franchises from largely console and PC based with three-four year release schedules to include more always on gameplay through live services, multiplatform and free-to-play extensions with the goal to have more players spending more time on more platforms. Ultimately we want to drive engagement and monetization of longer cycles and at higher levels. We have put specific capabilities. We are currently under scale and see significant opportunity to generate greater post purchase revenue.

Bottom line, we've come a long way in 19 months and have built a very solid foundation for growth. I'm energized by what we've done in such a short period of time and even more so than where we are headed as a company. As I said at the outset, our industry is undergoing great disruption and while there are some key factors that are out of our control, like the economy and the impacts of the strike, we do have a very strong handle on those areas of our businesses that we can directly influence.

But starting with the games business, we've spent a lot of time over the past year going into a lot of granular detail across all of the areas of our capital allocation. And the games business has shown tremendous success, not only from a P&L perspective, really, as David said, contributing hundreds of millions of dollars to our consolidated profits, but also from a return on investment perspective. I've double and triple checked some of the metrics here because it's such a great investment opportunity. I'm stunned that we haven't been investing more into this opportunity under JB's and David Haddad's leadership here, and I think we have to do more. There's a lot more opportunity there and we're going to start tackling that.

 

[BennyBlanco]

That’s rich coming from the company who just sold a $10 fatality. They’re lucky I like I’m an ed boon mark.

 

[sloppyjoe_gamer]

Shit lol i just did a post about MK's earnings not seeing this one

 

[Punished Miku]

I'm stunned that we haven't been investing more into this opportunity under JB's and David Haddad's leadership here, and I think we have to do more. There's a lot more opportunity there and we're going to start tackling that.

This reads like a perfect example of how someone with limited exposure to gaming culture in a boardroom sees the earning potential of GAAS games and greenlights all GAAS. What could go wrong?

Well maybe they will find out in a few years. They seem pretty late to this realization.

I noticed they don't mention Suicide Squad anywhere.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Shit lol i just did a post about MK's earnings not seeing this one

Ask a mod to merge your thread with mine.

 

[Lokaum D+]

 

[Papa_Wisdom]

 

[nowhat]

Fighting games can have some of the most egregious forms of monetization, so I'm looking forward to what they come up with. Or not looking forward, more like wrapped under a blanket sipping whisky and wondering whatever happened to gaming.

 

[RoboFu]

ehh I thought it wasn't as good as the last one. the invasion mode is pretty dumb. But that's is how it goes right? the sequel's sales is dependent on how good the one before it was.

 

[skit_data]

The thread titles three sentences read in sequence made me think of this:

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

I feel like MK1 did not sell well enough for now.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

The thread titles three sentences read in sequence made me think of this:

Well there's a character limit for thread titles here on GAF (wish it were more) so need to have all the relevant bits about their gaming business there.

 

[skit_data]

Well there's a character limit for thread titles here on GAF (wish it were more) so need to have all the relevant bits about their gaming business there.

No it wasn't something negative towards it or you in any way but more about how each sentence made it go from "good news" to "okay news" to "not good news" xD

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

No it wasn't something negative towards it or you in any way but more about how each sentence made it go from "good news" to "okay news" to "not good news" xD

Oh, yeah! That was quite a roller coaster lol.

 

[MiguelItUp]

I really wish NRS wasn't bound to WB. Their predatory monetization habits are beyond old at this point. I enjoyed MK1 for about a week and some change, and then I never went back. A lot of the skins didn't seem that exciting, and a number of QoL features were missing IMO. I may revisit it at a later time, but man it's really hard to tell at this point.

 

[sloppyjoe_gamer]

What did MK11 do in sales at this same point after release?

 

[Hypereides]

Plans for more monetization in their games

Our focus is on transforming our biggest franchises from largely console and PC based with three-four year release schedules to include more always on gameplay through live services, multiplatform and free-to-play extensions with the goal to have more players spending more time on more platforms. Ultimately we want to drive engagement and monetization of longer cycles and at higher levels. We have put specific capabilities. We are currently under scale and see significant opportunity to generate greater post purchase revenue.

Its unbelievably disgusting how much a snowball effect horse armor and the like had back in 2000s. This is where the c-suite funnels all its creativity and innovation.

 

[nosoynadie22]

It's always good to know that they will add more monetization to your favorite games.

 

[lh032]

I like WB, they are honest.

 

[SmokedMeat]

Raiden Yo Wallet

 

[ReBurn]

That’s rich coming from the company who just sold a $10 fatality. They’re lucky I like I’m an ed boon mark.

Maybe they're rich because they sold a $10 fatality. That's how games make money these days.

 

[sloppyjoe_gamer]

If you think about it, after reading all that about their intentions, its obvious now why NRS has been dead silent about legitimate concerns about the game. The game was literally built around that shitty model so when we ask for things like meaningful shrine content, more single player things to do that arent boring slogs.....they wont answer because they literally cant change it

 

[SmokedMeat]

I remember some people claiming that the price increase to $70 would curb monetization.

 

[Hypereides]

I remember some people claiming that the price increase to $70 would curb monetization.

They'll repeat the same phrase again when they up the price to $80 at some point.

 

[Spyxos]

I will get it at some point, but only for the campaign. They can keep the dlcs.

 

[Barakov]

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.

seekingalpha.com

Seeking Alpha have provided the full transcript of WB's earnings report for Q3 2023. Here's the relevant parts about their gaming business:

More Monetization.

 

[FUBARx89]

Can't wait til Suicide Squad blows up in their face more than it did at the gameplay reveal. Gonna be amazing watching WB blame everyone else but themselves

 

[WitchHunter]

Time to resurrect the arcades with a machine that you can slap but it can also slap you. And also sprinkles blood on you, plus hard hits result in cartilages and other bone like leftovers to be hurled towards you.