Paramount Games Studio and WB Games merge under Skydance after completing $111 billion acquisition

Paramount Games Studio and Warner Bros. Games will merge into a single unit under Skydance overseen by Tony Driscoll.

Earlier today, Paramount completed its $111 billion acquisition of WBD, allowing both companies to operate under the Skydance name.

The initial announcement did not refer to its video game divisions. However, in a memo obtained by Variety, Skydance president Andy Gordon announced that the games and experiences divisions of Paramount and WBD would merge to oversee projects based on both companies’ intellectual property.

Driscoll, president of Paramount Games Studio, will also lead games and experiences, in addition to leading strategy and corporate development at Skydance.

“We are investing in our future growth drivers alongside our core ambitions in television, cinema and direct-to-consumer: games, experiences, consumer products and publishing,” Gordon said.

“These are core pillars of our strategy to build engagement and fandom across the physical and digital worlds. We want to meet consumers where they watch, play and interact. At the same time, we see opportunities to leverage DC Comics’ storytelling and expand our e-commerce offerings to connect fans with the brands they love.”

Paramount Games Studio was formed this summer and is led by Executive Vice President and Head of Games Dan Prigg. The studio combines Paramount’s intellectual property with Skydance Interactive and Skydance New Media.

“Paramount, before the merger, was just issuing licenses,” Prigg said. GamesIndustry.biz. “They weren’t doing any in-house development. They weren’t doing much in terms of co-development and publishing. Skydance had a few studios and we had our own licenses.”

It was concluded that “a division can help control the roster, help with brands and (and) really build communities.”

As part of the merger, Josh Silverman was named president of global products and publishing. Jim Sterner will remain chief human resources officer and Jose Turkienicz will remain president of global operations.

In the initial announcement, Skydance CEO David Ellison said the merger would require the company to make “difficult decisions” including “changes and impacts.”

“Bringing two companies of this size and complexity together will require difficult decisions. There will be changes and there will be impacts. I’m not going to pretend otherwise,” Ellison said.

“What I can promise you is that we will make these decisions as quickly and thoughtfully as possible. We will communicate directly. We will tell you what we know when we know it. And we will not allow a prolonged integration process to distract us from why we brought these companies together in the first place: which is to build the next generation media and entertainment company.”