After months of speculation, Netflix's deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, along with the entire HBO library, is officially off, according a report from The New York Times. Now, it looks like Game of Thrones is not coming to Netflix in the foreseeable future, and possibly ever.
Netflix bowed out of the race, opting not to increase its offer after the WBD board voted that Paramount's offer was "superior." Now, it appears Paramount Skydance will acquire Warner Bros. Discovery unless the government blocks the deal, which is still a possibility.
Netflix's Game of Thrones hopes fade after WBD deal collapse
It's a stunning turn of events. For a long time, it looked like Netflix was going to acquire Warner Bros., which would allow two of the biggest streamers, Netflix and HBO Max, to merge libraries. That would have brought Game of Thrones to Netflix for the first time ever.
There are many reasons that the Netflix-WBD felt like a lose-lose situation for fans. The theatrical situation with Warner Bros. and Netflix was always going to be tricky. I don't want to get into the monopoly conversation of it all because that's, quite frankly, out of my league.
The only potentially good thing to come out of a potential Netflix-WBD merge was Netflix viewers getting access to the Warner Bros. movies and shows, including Game of Thrones.
Now, I can't think of one positive from Paramount's winning bid and potential acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
We already know that Game of Thrones is the biggest show of the last 15 years. The Game of Thrones spinoffs, House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, are big hits, as well. And, the kicker is that it's still relatively hard to watch those shows. HBO Max is the fourth biggest streaming service behind Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney+, and HBO is still a premium network.
Moving Game of Thrones and its spinoffs to Netflix would likely introduce even more viewers to those shows, which would have been a massive deal for those shows. Netflix simply has more reach, by far, than any other streaming service. It could have opened incredible opportunities for this franchise and the fantasy genre.
Game of Thrones not heading to Netflix is far from the most disappointing aspect of Netflix losing this deal. While I can't say that I wanted it to happen at all, I definitely wanted WBD to go to Netflix rather than Paramount.
There's still a chance that Game of Thrones and its spinoffs could come to Netflix in a licensing deal. We've seen HBO shows licensed to Netflix in the past, along with many Paramount shows. So, it's a never say never situation. If a mutually beneficial deal could be agreed upon, it could happen. For now, it's likely that Game of Thrones and its spinoffs will be exclusively available on HBO and HBO Max.
Now, I have really no idea what happens. It's unclear if Paramount will have the same affinity for keeping the Warner Bros. TV and streaming apparatus together or if there are yet more shoes to drop.
We'll just have to see where things go from here, but I guess it's time to get ready to subscribe to Paramount+ to watch Game of Thrones and its spinoffs. (That's a joke; I truly don't know what happens next).
Stay tuned for more news about Paramount's potential acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery and how it could impact HBO, HBO Max, and the Game of Thrones franchise.