Warner Bros. Interactive may be readying its own Steam-like platform called WB Play

Steam's sucess as a digital distribution platform has inspired publishers to try their own hands at it. There's Origin from EA, and uPlay from Ubisoft. Now Warner Bros. could be creating its own distribution service, and if the clues are true, it's called WB Play.

The word comes from the gang over at The Escapist , which noticed and dutifully reported on Warner's recent trademark filing for something called "WB Play." The trademark filings cover, among other things, "Online retail store services featuring virtual social goods within games; electronic commerce services, namely, providing information about video game and computer game software products via telecommunication networks for advertising and sales purposes; on-line retail store services featuring video game and computer game software products and services; on-line retail store services featuring downloadable sound, music, image, video and game files."

You will also notice, if you pop over to ShadowofMordor.com , that in the very upper-left corner of the screen there sits a small "WB Play" logo. It appears to be the header of a drop-down menu, although at this point it doesn't actually do anything—but it is there. It's also interesting to note that the trademark filing covers "audio and video broadcasting services over the internet or other communication networks" as well, perhaps suggesting that WBIE would like a slice of that sweet streaming pie for itself.

It seems likely that whatever Warner Bros. has cooking will be revealed relatively soon, presumably before the launch of Shadow of Mordor, which goes out the door on September 30. We've reached out to Warner Bros. for more information and will update if and when we learn more.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.