5) Time Warner
$1.7 billion
Media giant Time Warner began its involvement in the video game industry back in 1995, licensing its Batman IP under the guise of “Warner Bros. Interactive.” Since then, it has thrived as a video game publisher, and the industry now represents a significant avenue of its business. That being said, 2016 was a middling year for the company, with revenue largely flat in comparison with the previous year.
Despite Time Warner’s operating income growing 22 per cent to reach £1.7bn overall, the company was affected by lower video game revenue, In its financial report to stockholders, Warner Bros. stated: “Videogames revenues declined as the prior year benefited from the releases of Mortal Kombat X and Batman: Arkham Knight.”
It was expected that 2017 would see an increase in revenue from video games, with Lego Marvel Avengers, Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Batman: Arkham VR and Batman: Return to Arkham forming an impressive schedule. And, indeed, Warner Bros. Interactive showed strong growth. Time Warner said that Injustice 2 was the “highest-grossing console game in the second quarter of 2017.” The performance of Injustice 2, and the movie Wonder Woman (Warner Bros. Interactive includes film production) accounted for nearly $3 billion in revenue in Q2 alone.
