Netflix reportedly offered Microsoft $500 million for exclusive rights to turn Xbox games into movies and TV shows, and the talks fell apart after Xbox came back asking for more. According to Puck’s Matthew Belloni, who cited three sources in his What I’m Hearing newsletter on October 23, Xbox countered with $800 million and Netflix has since pulled its offer.
What the Netflix Xbox deal would have covered
Per Puck, as summarized by GameSpot and Inven Global, the key points are:
- The offer: $500 million for a seven year deal to exclusively license Xbox titles for film and TV.
- Who made it: Bela Bajaria, who was Netflix’s chief content officer at the time.
- The counter: Xbox CEO Asha Sharma and her business affairs team asked for $800 million.
- The result: the offer is off the table following Bajaria’s exit, and Netflix CFO Spence Neumann was reportedly among those at the streamer who felt the deal was too rich.
The report does not say which specific franchises the deal would have included. Xbox’s catalog now spans Microsoft’s own studios plus Activision Blizzard and Bethesda, so an exclusive deal could in theory have touched names like Halo, Gears of War, Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, Call of Duty, Warcraft and Diablo.
Why the talks collapsed
The timing comes down to a shake-up at Netflix. Belloni first reported on October 15 that Bajaria was out as content chief, with former Disney and Fox executive Peter Rice replacing her. With the executive behind the offer gone, the deal reportedly went with her. Puck adds that Rice is expected to chase more outside IP deals for Netflix, so this may not be the last time the two companies talk.
What Xbox and Netflix said
Netflix declined to comment. Xbox gave Puck a statement that stops short of confirming or denying the numbers:
“We have received record-breaking interest in our I.P.; Netflix is a valued partner and we are excited for the forthcoming release of our Minecraft and Diablo animated series together, among other adaptations.”
Instead of one big exclusive partner, Xbox is now said to be “pursuing smaller deals with more partners.”
Xbox already works with Netflix, just not exclusively
The two companies are far from strangers. Netflix announced a live action Gears of War movie and an adult animated Gears series with The Coalition in November 2022. Director David Leitch told Collider in April that the film has a draft in “really great shape” and that “Netflix is 100% behind it,” though there is still no cast or release date. Netflix also has a Minecraft animated series in the works, and Blizzard announced a Diablo animated series with Netflix at BlizzCon in September.
Outside Netflix, Xbox franchises are spread across Hollywood. Fallout has another season coming at Prime Video, a Call of Duty movie is set up at Paramount, and a sequel to A Minecraft Movie is in the works at Warner Bros. Pictures. Halo is the cautionary tale: its Paramount+ series ended after two seasons.
Why it matters
Game Beacon’s take: the $800 million ask tells you how Xbox values its IP after A Minecraft Movie, which Xbox says had the biggest opening weekend ever for a video game adaptation. Earlier this month Xbox launched XP, a new division for film, TV, merchandise and theme parks, with an Xbox Pictures arm dedicated to adaptations. Locking most of its catalog to one streamer for seven years would have cut against that plan to shop each franchise to the best fit.
It is also another sign of how quickly Xbox’s leadership is reshaping the business under Sharma, which includes the recent exit of COO Helen Chiang. For players, the practical upshot is that the next Xbox adaptation could land on almost any service, not just Netflix. Neither company has confirmed the figures, so treat them as reported until one of them does.
