Warner Invests in SCi, Grants Licenses

Cross-medium content producer and publisher Warner Bros. Entertainment has announced that it plans to buy a 10.3% stake in Eidos parent company SCi Entertainment, owner of franchises such as Deux Ex, Tomb Raider, and Hitman. Along with the deal, Warner Bros. will grand SCi the rights to produce video games based on a number of Warner properties. These include the comic book version of Batman (as opposed to any film incarnations), the television series The OC, and numerous animated properties including the library of Looney Tunes characters, the portfolio of Hanna-Barbera characters, Loonatics Unleashed, the Legion of Superheroes, and others. Under the agreement, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will provide various warehousing and distribution services for Eidos games published in the United States. "Investing in SCi further solidifies our commitment to the rapidly growing interactive and gaming space," said Warner Bros. Home Entertainment president Kevin Tsujihara. "This deal is consistent with our core strategy of delivering high quality entertainment based on some of the world's best-loved brands for all formats and channels. We look forward to working with SCi to build games the fans of these brands will truly enjoy.