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Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) Games Introduces MultiVersus

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Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD - Free Report) Games announced the official release of MultiVersus, a free-to-play platform fighter videogame, on various gaming consoles. The game has full cross-play and cross-progression support, allowing players to enjoy seamless gameplay across various platforms.

Developed by Player First Games and managed by Warner Bros. Games San Diego, MultiVersus boasts a growing roster of popular characters from WBD’s franchises. Season 1 of Puns & Villainy introduces new characters like The Joker from DC and Friday the 13th has Jason Voorhees. Other famous characters are Banana Guard from Adventure Time and Agent Smith from The Matrix.

MultiVersus has a new PvE mode called Rifts, offering players a unique experience through boss fights, mini-games and rewards, apart from the competitive PvP matches. The game features various reimagined environments, including maps inspired by Dexter’s Laboratory and The Powerpuff Girls, adding to the dynamic and engaging gameplay.

Players can enjoy MultiVersus through multiple modes, including 2 vs. 2 team-based co-op, 1 vs. 1 matches, four-player free-for-all and co-op vs. A.I. The game also offers custom online lobbies, practice modes, tutorials and local play supporting up to four players.

WBD has a strong portfolio of games which are based on popular franchises such as Game of Thrones: Conquest, Harry Potter: Magic Awakened, Batman: Arkham Trilogy and Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League. The popularity of these games is expected to aid gaming revenues in the near term.

Warner Bros. Discovery also has an impressive slate of content that includes Challengers, Turtles All The Way Down, The Watchers and Twisters. Additionally, WBD, in partnership with HBO, announced a slate of new content called Game of Thrones: Conquest. These upcoming content offerings are expected to aid the company’s top-line growth in the upcoming quarters.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for content revenues in second-quarter 2024 is pegged at $2.517 billion, indicating year-over-year growth of 2.9%.

Factors to Drive Warner Bros. Discovery’s Prospects in 2024

Warner Bros. Discovery is leveraging successful strategies from its U.S. and LatAm launches, including a robust content slate, strategic partnerships and an improved subscriber migration experience to reduce churn. Enhanced content and product features are set to drive engagement, with ongoing improvements aimed at delivering a more personalized consumer experience and impactful content offerings.

These factors are set to drive the company’s prospects in 2024.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for WBD’s 2024 revenues is pegged at $41.11 billion, indicating a year-over-year decline of 0.52%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at a loss of 38 cents per share, indicating year-over-year growth of 70.31%.

Shares of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company have plunged 30.8% year to date compared with the Zacks Consumer Discretionary sector’s decline of 3.1% due to tough competition in the content space from Netflix (NFLX - Free Report) , Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) and Disney (DIS - Free Report) . You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Netflix is famous for delivering quality content. Throughout the remainder of 2024, the platform plans to release a substantial slate of new material to maintain viewer excitement. The upcoming content includes titles like Bionic, Colors of Evil: Red and A Part of You. Netflix also competes with WBD in the gaming space with popular games like Storyteller, Ghost Detective and Vikings Valhalla.

Amazon Prime Video boasts a vast library of highly-rated shows, appealing to a wide range of viewers. Additionally, it enhances accessibility by providing subtitles. To attract new subscribers, Amazon is developing exciting projects, such as the debut season of The GOAT and the second seasons of Outer Range and Them: The Scare. Its upcoming games include Throne of Liberty and Blue Protocol.

Disney+ focuses on offering exclusive movies and shows from popular brands like Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic. The platform has several highly anticipated series in the works, including Doctor Who, The Acolyte and Ironheart. In the gaming space, DIS is set to compete against WBD with its upcoming games like Mirrorverse, Castle of Illusion and Tron 2.

Warner Bros. Discovery recently showcased its holistic approach to cross-company collaboration. Brands and advertisers have the opportunity to connect their messages with popular films from Warner Bros. Pictures. These initiatives are expected to help the company stay ahead of its competitors in the long run.

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