Warner Bros. has given over the video gaming rights to its famous Batman franchise, as well as other products, to Eidos, a British game manufacuring company.
The deal was sealed after Eidos agreed to Warner buying into the company for nearly $87 million giving the studio 10% ownership in the video enterprise. Besides giving Warner a 10% share in Eidos, the studio will also gain exclusive distribution of the games for its U.S. customers. This agreement marks the first time Warner Bros. has committed to distributing vidgames on a regular basis, according to the industry paper Variety.
As part of that agreement, Warner hands over the rights to Eidos of many of its movie, comicbook and TV endeavors, such as the entire Hanna-Barbera franchise, Batman, the Looney Tunes characters, “The OC,” and “Legion of Super-Heroes,” giving Eidos the right to model video games after these different properties.
“The fact that we’re moving aggressively into distribution creates opportunities for us as a group,” said Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment topper Jason Hall. “It’s a small step,” he said, in Warner’s overall move further into videogames.
Eidos was acquired by Sci Entertainment just last year and this deal must be approved by Sci Ent. shareholders before it goes into full effect.
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