Hollywood entertainment law firm Loeb & Loeb jumps into video games

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Loeb & Loeb, the law firm that has represented some of Hollywood’s biggest movie companies, now wants a piece of the action in video games.

The Los Angeles firm this week said it has lured Dan Offner from Nixon Peabody. Offner, whose clients include THQ, will build Loeb’s budding Interactive Entertainment Group.

He joins forces with Mickey Mayerson’s 75-lawyer Corporate, Media and Entertainment Practice. His group’s clients are a who’s who roster of entertainment, including Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox, ‘American Idol’ and Sony Pictures. Mayerson’s personal claim to fame: helping studios raise billions of dollars.

Loeb is betting that Offner will do the same with game companies. The $45-billion industry has long surpassed the music business in revenue. But there’s even more money to be made these days as the game business undergoes a massive transition from publishing primarily on traditional game consoles to a plethora of other platforms, including iPhones, Facebook or directly on the Web.

As a result, traditional entertainment law firms are tripping over themselves in a rush to build expertise in video games.

‘Video games will be completely digitally distributed in the next five years,’ Offner said. ‘As people go through transition, there’s opportunity.’

-- Alex Pham