Warner Bros. Games

From the Audiovisual Identity Database, the motion graphics museum



Background

Warner Bros. Games (also known as WB Games) is the major publishing unit of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment founded on January 14, 2004. Warner Bros. Games is not to be confused with said company.



1st Logo (October 18-November 15, 2005)


Visuals: A grated, metallic rotating cube that shows a tilted Warner Bros. shield carved on each side appears from the dark. The word "GAMES" in Helvetica Condensed Bold appears below. After a few seconds, the cube slows down and goes into the darkness.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A whoosh-based note followed by repeated scratching sounds.

Availability: Can be seen on F.E.A.R. and Condemned: Criminal Origins.

2nd Logo (October 17, 2006-October 12, 2010)


Visuals: An image of the Warner Bros. studio lot in Burbank, California from the 1998 Warner Bros. Pictures logo is seen tinted in smoky blue. Then the picture waves for a second, and a navy blue WB shield is revealed, done in the same style as the previous logo, on a smoky background. "GAMES" also slides in to the bottom of the shield.

Variants:

  • On some games, the logo is still.
  • There is a color-reversed logo on Scribblenauts.
  • On Looney Tunes: Duck Amuck, the logo slides in from the right pushing the "LICENSED BY NINTENDO" text away. Then, the WayForward logo flips in on the bottom screen. Then the ActImagine Codec logo crashes through the WayForward logo. Then the logos slide away.
  • On Justice League Heroes, the logo zooms out via a multi-reflection effect, like the Warner Premiere logo. It has a more intense blue tint than the normal logo.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A whoosh followed by a fading note, and one more whoosh. It more commonly uses the opening theme of the game.

Audio Variant: On Justice League Heroes, harsh humming music is heard, starting with a thunder-strike and ending with a metal clang.

Availability: Can be seen on Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal for PlayStation 2, F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin, Where the Wild Things Are, Watchmen, 300: March to Glory and other games.

3rd Logo (August 25, 2009-March 1, 2019)


Visuals: Starting from a glowing blue surface, which features computerized patterns, the screen zooms out from the inside of a bannerless Warner Bros. shield logo. The shield's outline and letters are glowing gold, and the background is a blue-black gradient. The shield flashes and reveals a box underneath it, also in blue and outlined in gold with the word "GAMES" in a Copperplate-like font on it. Light sparks move on various golden parts of the logo.

Variants:

  • The still version is much more common, often set on various backgrounds. Since WB Games publishes many games, there are many variants.
  • In later years, the logo was enhanced with a black background that fades to a softer blue-black gradient background and the logo being shinier.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A lady singing (which sounds fairly similar to the music that plays during the Warner Bros. logo on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2) with the sound of riding cymbals and twinkles.

Availability:

  • The first game to use the still logo was Batman: Arkham Asylum, released on August 25, 2009. The animated variant appeared on the trailers for Mortal Kombat, and the games Yogi Bear and Happy Feet Two, as well as Cars 3: Driven to Win.
  • It also appears on every LEGO video game from LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 to The LEGO Movie 2 Videogame, albeit using custom variants on each game. It was also left intact on the Nintendo Switch port of LEGO Marvel Superheroes (released on October 5, 2021), despite the 2019 logo being used on the copyright screen and packaging.

4th Logo (December 12, 2010-October 18, 2013)


Visuals: It starts off at Warner Bros. Studios in the daytime with the famous Warner Bros. water tower. The camera pans forward and to the right of the tower, showing its other side. As the camera pans, the sky turns dark and stormy and the tower opens up to reveal the WB Games logo from before, now in a neon yellow color.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: The beginning of the logo has wind blowing. As the sky changes, thunder, lightning and electrical crackling is heard when the logo turns on the other side of the tower. A low ominous note then plays and sustains itself for the duration of the logo.

Audio Variant: The "Kratos" Mortal Kombat trailer has the first seven piano notes of the 1999 Warner Bros. Pictures fanfare playing, which slows to a stop when it turns into lightning.

Availability: It debuted on the "Kratos" trailer of the 2011 Mortal Kombat game, and was later seen on the game itself. It was since used on F.E.A.R. 3 and Lollipop Chainsaw, and also appeared on Mortal Kombat Legacy, as well as on Midway Arcade Origins.

5th Logo (November 3, 2020-)


Visuals: The 2019 Warner Bros. shield, with "WARNER BROS. GAMES" in its corporate font below on a black background. Sometimes, only the shield is shown.

Technique: A still graphic.

Audio: None or the opening theme of the game.

Availability: It first appeared on Bakugan: Champions of Vestoria and then on Mortal Kombat 11 starting with the Ultimate update, and has appeared on every game from Warner Bros. since, such as Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and MultiVersus.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Warner Bros. Games