14 DAY TRIAL // Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. announced yesterday that it had set up a new entity called DC Entertainment, with the stated aim of better using DC Comics intellectual property in videogames, in movies and other media. The parent company stated that “prioritize DC properties as key titles and growth drivers across all of the Studio, including feature films, television, interactive entertainment, direct-to-consumer platforms and consumer products.”
The new company will be collaborating closely with other Warner Bros. owned entities, like Warner Premiere and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. The president of the new company is Diane Nelson, who has until now headed the Premiere division.
The move comes after Marvel, the other big comics publishing house, the traditional rival of DC Comics, was bought up by Disney in a transaction said to have been worth no less than 4 billion dollars. Although it is not clear how Disney will be using characters from Marvel in movies and videogames, Warner needed to make a move to show how it could also enhance the profile of its superheroes.
Warner has recently partnered with Eidos to publish the Rocksteady-made Batman: Arkham Asylum, a videogame that has sold quite well in North America and in Europe. Part of the success of the title can be attributed to the fact that it did not set out to follow the plot and characters of the successful Dark Knight movie, instead focusing on delivering an experience that shows off all the central characteristics of the main protagonist in an iconic setting. There is already talk of a sequel not in any way tied to the next Barman movie.
Warner would probably be very interested in creating similar videogaming experiences using other characters from DC Comics and it seems that this will be part of the central missions of DC Entertainment.