Warner Brothers will change its royalty fee structure based on review scores, according to VGPro.com.
Warner Bros. said it is unhappy with the stream of poor licensed games.
"The game industry has had its time to exploit movie studios all day long and to get away with producing inferior products," said Jason Hall, head of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. "But, with Warner Brothers, no more. Those days are over. And we mean it. This isn't just lip service. Honestly, the bad games are over."
As an incentive to third-party developers to develop quality products, royalty fees will be lower if games receive good review scores.
"An escalating royalty rate kicks in to help compensate us for the brand damage that's taking place," continued Hall. "The further away from 70 percent it gets, the more expensive the royalty rate becomes. So, frankly, if the publisher delivers on what they promised -- to produce a great game -- it's not even an issue.
Bruno Bonnell, Atari's chairman and CEO, has responsed to Hall's statements by noting that the Atari-developed Enter the Matrix has sold four million copies, garnering $250 million worldwide.
"That's what a big major motion picture makes," said Bonnell. "And Warner Bros. would penalize us because we didn't achieve 70 percent? Are they joking? Are we proud of everything we do? In most cases, yes. Do we fail sometimes? Sometimes. Do we feel we have to pay because we fail and because the ratings reflect that? No, absolutely not."