These days, it isn’t just the “pure” video game publishers that publish video games; motion picture studios are also in on the business. Thing is, depending on the studio, some might opt to have a sister company do the work instead of going the direct route.

Here’s short summary of how the various movie studios stand with regard to licensing and video game publishing:

• Disney: Walt Disney Studios lets its sister Disney Interactive Studios (DIS) publish a lot of family-oriented games. DIS also publishes other games that aren’t based on Disney titles.
• Fox: This one licenses its properties to video game publishers.
• Lionsgate: Licenses its properties to video game publishers.
• MGM: This studio also licenses its properties to publishers.
• Paramount: While the studio has traditionally licensed out all its properties, it’s also starting to get into video game publishing itself.
• Sony Photos: Its corporate sibling, Sony Personal Entertainment, is maker of the PlayStation consoles and the games for those consoles. Sony Photos licenses out its properties to various different videogame publishers.
• Universal: This one also licenses out all its properties to video game publishers.
• Warner Bros.: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (WBIE) owns developer Monolith. It oversees licensing to other publishers for some Warner. Bros properties that it doesn’t handle. Warner also owns a 10 stake in Eidos.

As you can see from the list above, all of the studios are either into either licensing out motion picture rights for games, or publishing games themselves, or both. It’s hardly surprising, given how some of the games of this day are sometimes marketed as “interactive movies.”

source pc.qj.net

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This entry was posted on Saturday, March 29th, 2008 at 1:21 pm and is filed under Video Games. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.