In the midst of historic media acquisition battles, gaming, particularly interactive and Web3 titles, has been largely sidelined, raising questions about Hollywood’s understanding of modern entertainment, according to investor Joost van Dreunen’s analysis on SuperJoost Substack channel.
Netflix’s $82.7 billion bid for Warner Bros. and Paramount Skydance’s $108 billion counteroffer dominate headlines, but neither company is integrating gaming into their strategic narratives.
Despite gaming’s growing cultural and economic significance, Netflix has scaled back its in-house studios, closing Team Blue in 2024 and Boss Fight Entertainment in 2025, while returning Spry Fox to its founders during its Warner Bros. bid week.
“The pattern suggests that Netflix’s retreat is less about a failure of gaming as a category and more about an underestimation of what success in this domain requires: a fundamentally different set of capabilities,” writes van Dreunen, adding that gaming demands long-term investment in development infrastructure, iterative workflows, and community management.
Warner Bros. Games, home to successful franchises like Mortal Kombat and Hogwarts Legacy, also illustrates a paradox: the division’s commercial potential is clear, yet it has suffered leadership turnover, inconsistent output, and marginal recognition in acquisition discussions.
Paramount Skydance references gaming in its bid, citing veteran leadership under Amy Hennig and ongoing development projects, but its focus remains on adapting existing IP rather than pioneering Web3 gaming innovation.
Van Dreunen argues this reflects a deeper strategic misalignment. Hollywood continues to prioritize one-off content ownership, overlooking the sustained engagement, community participation, and decentralized value creation central to Web3 gaming ecosystems.
Why This Matters
Hollywood’s mega-deals risk undervaluing interactive and web3 gaming, missing a key driver of long-term audience engagement and revenue.
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People Also Ask:
Web3 gaming integrates blockchain technology into games, enabling players to own, trade, and monetize digital assets like NFTs and in-game tokens.
Yes. Web3 games can create sustainable revenue through in-game purchases, secondary marketplaces, and recurring engagement with tokenized assets.
Web3 allows players to participate in game economies, influence development, and earn rewards, creating a more immersive and invested player base.
Studios are assessed based on revenue potential, IP strength, audience engagement, technical capabilities, and alignment with broader company strategy.
Interactive franchises are games or media properties that allow active participation from users, often including multiplayer, live events, or user-generated content.
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