Pixel P&L: Netflix vs Paramount, Xbox Outsold by Little Known Console

Welcome to another Pixel P&L edition. This issue takes 6 minutes to read. If you only have one, here are the 5 most important things:

• Paramount Skydance launches a massive $108.4B counter-bid for Warner Bros Discovery, topping Netflix's offer.

• A little-known motion console quietly outsold Xbox during Black Friday week in the US.

• Crunchyroll is shutting down its free streaming tier, ending ad-supported anime access from 2026.

• The Game Awards will reveal the future of Tomb Raider this Thursday.

• Counter-Strike 2's next Major heads to Singapore in 2026, marking the game's first Southeast Asian Major. 

Let's get into it.

Paramount Launches $108.4bn Counter-Bid for Warner Bros Discovery

Paramount Skydance has launched a hostile $108.4 billion takeover offer for Warner Bros Discovery, challenging Netflix's recently accepted $82.7 billion bid for the media conglomerate's streaming and studio divisions.

The all-cash proposal values WBD shares at $30 each, compared with Netflix's $27.75-per-share offer for select assets. Warner Bros Discovery stock jumped 6% on the news, while Netflix shares fell 4.81%.

"WBD shareholders deserve an opportunity to consider our superior all-cash offer," said Paramount CEO David Ellison, criticizing the Netflix deal's "mix of cash and stock" and uncertain regulatory path.

While largely overlooked in deal discussions, the acquisition could include Warner Bros. Games, publisher of the Batman: Arkham series, Mortal Kombat, and 2023's breakout hit Hogwarts Legacy. The gaming division has faced challenges, including the failure of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and Monolith Productions' closure, though WBD recently refocused its gaming strategy around four established franchises: Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Mortal Kombat, and DC.

Little-Known Motion Console Outsells Xbox During Black Friday

Xbox hardware finished fourth in US Black Friday week sales, trailing an obscure Kinect-style console called Nex Playground, according to Circana data.

PlayStation 5 dominated with 47% market share, driven by significant discounts. Nintendo Switch captured 24%, while Nex Playground took 14%, leaving Xbox with less than 14% during the crucial shopping period.

Launched in 2023, the Android-powered Nex Playground features motion-sensing technology similar to Microsoft's discontinued Kinect. Retailing at $250 but frequently discounted below $200, the family-oriented console offers accessible titles like Fruit Ninja and has quietly gained traction in the US market.

The device briefly outsold PlayStation 5 the week before Black Friday, capitalizing on an underserved market segment: affordable, family-focused gaming that competitors have largely abandoned.

⚡️Quick Bytes

Crunchyroll to End Free Streaming Tier December 31

Crunchyroll will shut down its ad-supported free streaming tier on December 31, requiring viewers to subscribe to paid plans starting 2026. The move eliminates free legal access to popular anime including My Hero Academia, Chainsaw Man, and Naruto Shippuden, despite the platform's regional pricing and frequent promotional offers in markets like India.

Tomb Raider's Future to Be Unveiled at Game Awards

The Game Awards will reveal the future of Tomb Raider on Thursday, producer Geoff Keighley confirmed. While the announcement could involve Prime Video's upcoming live-action series, it may showcase Crystal Dynamics' next game, in development since 2022 using Unreal Engine 5. The studio has endured four rounds of layoffs in two years despite insisting the flagship title remains unaffected.

BOOM Esports Shuts Down Dota 2 Division After Eight Years

Southeast Asian esports organization BOOM Esports has closed its Dota 2 division, ending an eight-year run in Valve's MOBA. The Indonesian team, which reached Dota 2's top tier in 2022 with strong Major placements, struggled through a turbulent 2025 season before its final appearance at The International, where it finished in the top 15.

Counter-Strike Major Heads to Singapore in 2026

PGL will host Counter-Strike 2's second Major of 2026 in Singapore from November 25 to December 13, marking the esports title's first Southeast Asian Major. The season-ending event at Singapore Indoor Stadium follows ESL's IEM Cologne Major in June, with both tournaments featuring 32 teams competing for $1.25 million prize pools.

⚔️Side Quest

🤣Laugh:

📺 Watch: Xsolla's Chief Marketing and Growth Officer Berkeley Agnes explains why Netflix and Amazon are jumping in to the gaming industry, how AI is revolutionizing development, and what mobile gaming's regulatory shift means in this podcast with NewsNation.

🎮 Play: After Factorio, Flotsam's cozy visuals and chill soundtrack were exactly what I needed. The resource management game hits that sweet spot between strategic and manageable which meant that I barely noticed 10 hours flying by! 

📚 Read: Digital Foundry's Richard Leadbetter warns that the AI boom is creating a potential "dark age" for gaming hardware. With Micron ending its Crucial brand and RAM prices skyrocketing, the ripple effects threaten everything from GPU releases to next-gen consoles. Learn why RTX 50-series refreshes may be delayed until 2027 and how the industry might shift focus from hardware to software innovations like DLSS.

💡Did You Know

In one of gaming's most audacious legal scandals, Atari Games fabricated a lawsuit to steal Nintendo's secrets. Desperate to crack the NES's 10NES lock-out chip that prevented unlicensed games, Atari's legal team deceived the U.S. Copyright Office into handing over Nintendo's confidential source code. They reverse-engineered it to create their own chip called "the Rabbit" and began releasing unauthorized NES cartridges.

When Nintendo discovered the deception, the resulting lawsuit—Atari Games Corp. v. Nintendo (1992)—became landmark. The Federal Circuit ruled against Atari, declaring that while reverse engineering could be fair use, Atari's illicit methods disqualified them. Ironically, just one month later, Sega v. Accolade established that honest reverse engineering was legal.

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