Paramount plans to go after Warner Bros.

The boss of Netflix, Ted Sarandos, decided to spill the beans to Bloomberg about what awaits the employees of Warner Bros. now that Paramount has won the auction. According to him, the $31 per share price tag only adds up with a financial bloodbath: cuts that exceed $16 billion in about 18 months. It's amusing to note how these executives talk about billions and mass layoffs as if they were commenting on a football team lineup, ignoring that heavyweight studios like Rocksteady and TT Games are now in the crosshairs of desperate accountants to please those who lent the money.

Netflix dropped out of the bidding last week, pocketing a $2.8 billion termination fee paid by Paramount itself. It was a masterful move for the streaming giant's shareholders, who saw the stocks rise right after the retreat. However, for those working at Avalanche Software or niche studios, the scenario is one of pure nervousness. Warner Bros. was already in a rough patch, focusing only on four IPs — Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Mortal Kombat, and DC Comics — after the resounding failure of projects like Multiversus. The closure of Monolith Productions and Player First Games was just the appetizer for what the new management is expected to serve.

"There will be cuts exceeding $16 billion. They are telling the people who lend them money that this will happen in 18 months or more," Ted Sarandos fired.

The irony of the situation is that the market thought Paramount would be a "better home" for games than Netflix, which never hid the fact that it treated consoles as a minor detail in the contract. But the reality of the sector is cruel: Paramount needs to consolidate this billion-dollar purchase, and the most obvious cost centers are the people in the productions. Sarandos even taunted the regulators, saying that the deal should be rigorously scrutinized, just like his was in the US Senate. While the White House seems sympathetic to the agreement due to David Ellison's friendships, authorities from California and the European Union could still throw a wrench in this truckload of changes.

What is shaping up for the future of the gaming division is a forced and dangerous diet. If before the complaint was of "subperformance" under David Zaslav's command, now the fear is of such a drastic reduction that it hinders any creative innovation. It's a shame that such iconic brands are being treated as items in a stock clearance sale, where the goal is not to create the best game, but to clean up the debt spreadsheet as quickly as possible.

The expectation now revolves around which heads will roll first in this promised "efficiency" process by Paramount. It's a vicious cycle where talent becomes the first bargaining chip to save the fiscal balance.

We wait to see if this merger will result in quality entertainment or just a leaner and soulless corporate skeleton.