Top 25 TV, Film and Video Game Acquisitions

It's been in the news so much and some companies are still doing it. Been wanting to do this list for so long, but every time I think of doing it, another company acquisition suddenly happens. Well now I'm going through with it this time. These are the top 25 company acquisitions in Film, TV and Video Games that I feel are quite exciting, but also bizarre and so forth. Let's go before I too get acquired:

25 - Disney acquires The Muppet Studio

A small one to start with. So prior to Jim Henson's death, he was in talks with Disney, who were interested in acquiring The Muppets and Bear in the Big Blue House from Henson's company. Although negotiations were stalled for a while, mainly in part due to his demise, the big company that Disney now is these days, would eventually get both franchises and would then form The Muppet Studio as a result. This, to me, makes a lot of sense. Mainly because Disney have been involved in a number of Muppet productions already, including many of the films and a select few TV shows. Plus, despite the occasional adult joke here and there, the main Muppet characters were always aimed for a family audience, which fits well with Disney. So yeah a deal that made sense and there are still stuff to come from these old, but iconic puppet creatures.

24 - Sony acquires Insomniac Games

Many would assume that Insomniac Games are already part of Sony since the majority of their games are on their PlayStation consoles. But until recently, that wasn't true. In fact, Insomniac quite preferred being independent for a long time which led to the Xbox and PC exclusive (as well as a guilty pleasure of mine) Sunset Overdrive, being released under Microsoft Studios. But it wasn't until recently that Sony would eventually acquire the company, with Insomniac seeing the potential of gaining access to new technologies within their parent company. It's not all that surprising of an acquisition, but very surprising for most that they were always independent until now.

23 - EA acquires BioWare

Yep, there was a time when BioWare were also independent. Unheard of now, considering the amount of games released with EA's name on them that they developed. It came from a merger of companies that EA eventually bought collectively which made BioWare a first party developer for the publisher and would lead to a series of great games from them, despite pressure to meet release windows as was the case with Mass Effect 3. Yes it was widely known that EA's business practises were not brilliant, but despite that, BioWare prevailed and still make good games today even if a few weren't as good as we were hoping as was the case with Mass Effect Andromeda.

22 - Facebook acquires Oculus

OK so technically this is cheating, but you have to remember that both companies, have made games. It was a strange thing for Facebook to suddenly acquire Oculus, but then it kind of made sense to me. They were trying to be one of the big tech companies and with Oculus under their wing, that dream was a reality. VR was and still is a big deal for some and it's good that a company like Facebook, capitalized on that if only to have an "in" in the technology world. That and the company would be known as Meta Platforms, with the Oculus name ceasing to exist with Meta taking its place. Whether that was a good move or not, it is what it is.

21 - Universal acquires Sky

Now I say Universal because I don't think many of you know their parent company Comcast well. But they now effectively own or at least have a majority share in Sky which, for those of you who don't know, is a major TV, Phone and Broadband provider here in the UK and other parts of Europe. They also operate the streaming platform Now which since Comcast taking over, has become the home of pretty much everything from Universal's Peacock streaming service. So technically, we have Peacock here. It's just within Now, as is most of the content from HBO Max.

20 - Microsoft acquires Rare

This one was one that didn't really go down well. So Rare, for a while, did video games for a number of platforms and made an impact on Nintendo with their Donkey Kong games which helped revive the character and make him out to be a hero than villain as previously depicted. They also found further success with Nintendo on Goldeneye and now beloved franchises like Banjo-Kazooie and Perfect Dark. But then Microsoft bought them and things started to go downhill. They were assigned to make games for the now defunct Kinect and a few newer entries to their well established games and a couple of new IPs too. Nothing was great about Rare since Microsoft bought them, but at least they gave long time fans a chance to experience many of their classic games in Rare Replay and developers that were long associated with them, left to work on other projects including the spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie, the multi-platform series Yooka-Laylee. Guess nostalgia never really dies and although Sea of Thieves looks like it's better than it was when it came out, who knows if this acquisition will work out for real in the end.

19 - Warner Bros. acquires TT Games

This one was Warner Brothers attempting to have a firm place in the gaming world and by purchasing TT Games, they now had access to the LEGO license for gaming. This meant that TT would no longer need to ask WB if they can use their IPs for games which has meant more WB games than games based on other company's IPs. But we still got games that didn't come from WB like ones based on Jurassic Park, The Incredibles, Pirates of the Caribbean and more Star Wars ones too. Not to mention the big toys-to-life crossover that was Lego Dimensions which made good use of the whole idea that LEGO is a toy. So I guess this acquisition was a good move on WB's part if only to be able to make money off the once countless LEGO games. Nowadays, its once every blue moon, but WB Games can make money through other means with their other development companies.

18 - Paramount acquires Nickelodeon

This may come as a surprise to many of you, but for a long time, Nickelodeon was independent. Of course both companies are now owned by Viacom, but yeah the channel almost made their films with the studio formerly known as 20th Century Fox. That would've been weird to see NickToons on Disney properties, but that is what almost happened. Then Paramount got bought by Viacom, and it became the main distributor of all of Nickelodeon's things from that point on. Interesting times indeed.

17 - Nintendo acquires Next Level Games

Nintendo aren't usually known for buying up development studios. Most of the time, they are known for working with a number of studios on various games, usually because they love the exclusivity of their beloved franchises. Next Level Games became the exception when the House of Mario bought them in 2021 after a successful series of games made exclusively for Nintendo platforms. In particular, the remake of Punch Out! for the Wii, the Mario Strikers series and the sequels to Luigi's Mansion as well as a number of others.

16 - Disney acquires LucasFilm

Oh yes, you all know what the House of Mouse has got these days. So during Disney's buyout of various studios and companies under the watchful eye of Bob Iger, George Lucas was interested in retirement and wanted to ensure the future of his big major production company. Disney went ahead and acquired LucasFilm which although mainly known for Star Wars and Indiana Jones, it's also got a gaming division and various sound and visual design companies under its wing. So a major win for Disney as it meant all their films, from that point on, would seriously consider using the technologies that LucasFilm had at their disposal. That and have several major franchises to help continue, including the two mentioned already. But Lucas wouldn't simply leave it to them, as he did stay on for a while as a creative consultant.

15 - Warner Bros. acquires DC Comics

Yep another company that for a long time, has been associated with Warner Brothers. But didn't actually become part of Warner Brothers to begin with. Like all comic book companies, DC started off small. Gradually getting bigger over time and would soon become part of Warner Brothers when both companies became part of the same major telecommunications company which, to make things less complicated, was originally known as Time Warner following a merger of companies and until recently, was known as WarnerMedia. I think if memory serves, this news of DC being part of Warner Brothers, started when the 80s/90s era of Batman films and animated shows/films began. But since those days, DC's logo is now attached to everything they do with Warner Brothers and the rest is history.

14 - Microsoft acquires Mojang

In a very rare move for many people, the original designer for Minecraft, was offered a big deal by Microsoft which allowed him to retire and be ok, while Microsoft would handle his company and its biggest and most well known game, Minecraft. It was a big deal because it has been considered a rare thing for a major company like Microsoft to offer so much money to one person for a company so little. A bold move which has done reasonably well in that Minecraft is still alive and kicking with many spin-off games and even a film in the works. Nothing good ol' Steve can't handle I'd say.

13 - Google acquires YouTube

YouTube were for a short period of time, independant of Google. But when they were buying companies, Google acquired YouTube. So now the major search engine that people use a lot, owned the biggest and most used video sharing site out there, despite how they go about copyright and fair use. Which I don't honestly thing is as bad as it once was, but sadly is still an issue for some people. Not too bad with video games, but other things you just have to be careful. There is also a bit of inconsistancy on digital libraries, but yeah. A wise move which has done pretty well.

12 - Square Enix acquires Eidos

Oh yeah we all know this one. So Eidos was once a big video game publisher known for its film tie in games and also the Tomb Raider, Just Cause and Hitman franchises. But when they went bust, many companies took interest in buying up their assets with Sqaure Enix being the one that ended up with those three franchises. Plus also reviving Eidos so that the games that weren't bought, could see the light of day under them. A wise move on their part as it meant Square Enix had a firm grip on the Western front as well as in their native Japan area too.

11 - Activision merges with Blizzard

This one to me is a bit unusual. They are still known as Activison and Blizzard, yet refer to the company as Activison Blizzard. The company known for making you heed the Call of Duty, merging with the company that has a massive World of Warcraft (see what I did there???). Still unusual to me, but not surprised all the same as they are both widely known for making online games with some additional fees which is a major no no in the gaming community. Maybe they will change the name eventually instead of us having to say both names. But we shall see.

10 - Universal acquires DreamWorks Animation

Now this one makes sense. Because Universal have helped Steven Speilberg, make some of his biggest and most well known hits and he was one of the people that helped set up DreamWorks as a company. Nowadays, its mainly the animation side of DreamWorks that people know more than their live action company (which these days, Paramount own) and as such, I'm glad that after spending years getting deals from companies, that they are now owned by a company. The same company that also own Illumination so in a way, Universal now have a firm grip in animation. Especially now with beloved franchises like Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon and so on.

9 - Disney acquires Pixar

10 years they did films with Disney and had a pretty fragile relationship in the process. Particularly when Toy Story 2 became part of that deal instead of being made direct to home media as originally envisioned. But in the end, Disney saw potiental and when Bob Iger became the head of the company, he bought Pixar, effectively making them a Disney brand. Not just that, but their higher ups at the time, set about reviving Disney Animation all together which resulted in a perfected paintbrush CGI style which has since become the norm consistantly after Tangled was released and has been resonsible for their most recent biggest hits. Meanwhile Pixar are still going strong too, even though some of these upcoming sequels are rasing questions.

8 - Warner Bros. merges with Discovery

You know as I continue to do this post, I now realise how complicated some of these acquistions and mergers were. But this one just came out of the blue to me. Why would two very different companies, want to become one? A big questions, but I guess they were both trying to figure things out. But it has led to a lot of questions around animation, DC, Wizarding World and of course HBO. The futures of which are left uncertain, but hopeful in a way. It goes without saying that this one has been making very questionable choices with those things plus the way they are going about collector editions of Blu-Rays and 4K. I dunno, I hope the future is bright for them and that these things, don't suddenly become a major thing.

7 - Microsoft acquires Bethesda

Back to Microsoft now who acquired ZeniMax Media. However as I know many of you won't know that name, I'm just gonna use Bethesda instead. Yep the company who made Skyrim, the Fallout games and own the company that make the Doom series, now all belong to Micosoft. There's also Wolfenstien, Dishonoured and many more. The good news is at least they now have a major technology company backing them. The bad news being that the games going forward will more than likely start being exclusives to just Xbox and Windows based PCs. Meaning that the PlayStation, Nintendo and mobile crowd, will likely miss out. But hey, at least now we can hopefully see the more anticipated games be released a bit sooner and taking advantage of the technologies that Microsoft have at their disposal.

6 - Namco merge with Bandai

Another one that came out of the blue and also one that confused me. For a long time, I always knew Namco as the video game company that introduced Pac-Man to the world. While Bandai I always knew as a toy manufacturor. Both companies I found out, are also known for doing anime and have a firm grip in the arcades that are out there. They also worked with Nintendo on various things such as Mario Kart game cabinets in arcades and the more recent entries in the Super Smash Bros. franchise. Together, they still do all of that and have become the main pubisher for games based on anime that is based on manga associated with the weekly Japanese magazine (or whatever you want to call it), Weekly Shonen Jump. Think this was a great choice made by two very well known companies and great for buisness I'd say.

5 - Disney acquires Marvel

Back to Disney again and this one is particularly interesting. You see Warner Brothers have for a long time, been Disney's main competitor. With them having DC, it would only make sense that the House of Mouse, would have Marvel and that's exactly what happened. Towards the end of Phase 1 of the MCU, Disney caught wind of Marvel Studios needing more freedom to make the cinematic universe they wanted and acquired them in a deal with Paramount which led to both Avengers Assemble and Iron Man 3 using Paramount's logo, but with otherwise from that point on, be a Disney distributed franchise. Then from Thor: The Dark World onwards, only the Marvel Studios logo would appear with Disney being credited in the credits. With this big franchise under their wing, Disney parks and crusies would soon have Marvel characters appear and at least three films would be released a year by Marvel, all being part of the MCU. However, despite owning the rights to the majority of their own characters, Marvel still had to reacquire the rights to characters that Sony, Fox (at the time) and Universal still owned the rights too. But ultimately in the end, Sony would make a deal with Disney to allow them to distribute the Spider-Man films set in the MCU as well as their own cinematic universe featuring Marvel characters, but having close connections to the MCU at large. Whereas Universal would allow Hulk to appear in other hero films and TV shows as long as he's not the main star as Universal still held the rights to first refusal and a few Marvel characters that can appear in their theme parks. As for X-Men, Deadpool and Fantastic Four, well we'll get to that one shortly.

4 - Amazon acquires MGM

MGM are the sort of company that just seem to keep going despite frequent risks of going bankrupt. They made a lot of distribution deals with all the major studios including Fox before a certain company bought them, with the most well known one being Warner Brothers. Although not finalised, Amazon took interest in buying the company and so a deal was set to allow the majority of MGM's films and television (with some exceptions) to be avaliable to Prime Video users. Of course if finalised, this would also mean MGM's own streaming platform, may be dissolved into Prime Video so an interesting time for the two companies for sure.

3 - Warner Bros. acquires Cartoon Network

So kind of like Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network had a parent company that eventually had, merged or bought a major studio which would eventually become their new parent company. That company was Warner Brothers. Now the cartoon oriented channel, already had access to the Warner Brothers, MGM and Hanna Barbera libraries to broadcast cartoons 24/7. But by having Warner Brothers on board, this meant Cartoon Network could start having their own shows which thanks to Cartoon Cartoons, they were able to do just that and allow fans to vote on their favourite shows. The channel has seen better days recently, but yeah even they became part of a major company and eventually merged Hanna Barbera with them. Not to mention the success they had with Boomerang, Toonami and Adult Swim which all specalised in a certain type of cartoon. Boomerang focusing on classic cartoons, Toonami focusing on action orientated and anime ones and Adult Swim focusing on ones aimed at a more mature audience. Whether as seperate channels or as one hour slots on the main channel, that's how it worked and it worked well for a long time. That is until things changed with the Warner Brothers Discovery merge and well, no one knows for sure if the future for Cartoon Network is set yet.

2 - Warner Bros. acquires Avalanche

Avalance used to do things for Disney many years ago. In particular they were the main developers behind the Disney Infinity series. But when that ended and Disney decided they be better as a licensor for video games (LucasFilm being the exception for that later down the line), Avalanche was no more. That is until Warner Brothers acquired them and they started working on licensed Disney games and more recently, Hogwarts Legacy. Warner Brothers do own a fair amount of game developers who under them, have made a ton of critically acclaimed games based on their properties. At least since their gaming division took things a lot more seriously.

No honourable mentions this time as this list has been one of the most complicated I have made so far. So number one unsurprisingly is...

1 - Disney acquires Fox

This is the big one. The one that really made headlines. A major studio acquiring another major studio which meant that Disney would effectively be the biggest major studio out there. But in a way, it made sense for them to have Fox's film and TV show assets. Fox had permanent distribution rights to Star Wars: A New Hope and also the rights to X-Men, Deadpool and Fantastic Four. Plus Disney wanted to make their portfolio a bit more lucrative, especially with Disney+ about to be launched at the time. So it all makes sense in a way. But they were in battle with Universal who had similar plans to them with having Fox properties appear in their parks. Until eventually Universal decided to concentrate their efforts on acquiring Sky which Fox had a major stake in. So yeah that's the most biggest and most exciting acqusition of them all, hence being at number one.

And we are done. Defintiley will make future top 25s a lot less complicated. If you agree, disagree or want to share your own list, please do so in the comments below. Who knows, maybe I'll be acquired by a company at some point (but I find that highly unlikely).