Just as I talked about a month ago, Warner Brothers today announced they would begin selling their movies exclusively on the Blu-ray format, pulling out of HD-DVD. This will go into effect starting in May and shortly thereafter we could certainly see the tide shift in the HD-DVD/Blu-ray War over to Blu-ray for good.

Warner Brothers CEO chimed in:

“The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger. We believe that exclusively distributing in Blu-ray will further the potential for mass market success and ultimately benefit retailers, producers, and most importantly, consumers.”

So exactly as I mentioned a couple day ago, worries of consumer confusion seem to be the driving force. The studios are also no doubt unhappy with the dip in DVD sales for the first time – ever. The pressure to move toward digital distribution – which many still equate with piracy – is no doubt a factor as well.

With Warners on their side, the Blu-ray camp will have the studios behind just about 70% of all movies currently sold on DVD. When Paramount – one of the two big guns of the majors signed on to an exclusive deal with HD-DVD – sees this, expect them to start looking into ways of getting out of their deal (which was only a limited-time deal to begin with). The other big gun, Universal, has appeared to be more loyal to HD-DVD, but if everyone else is doing Blu-ray don’t expect them to risk losing sales – even if they have to eat their words.

This is big news folks. By the end of the year the war could finally be over. Suddenly the timing of the Apple/Blu-ray rumors are starting to make more sense. If I were Microsoft I might reconsider the rumored move of putting HD-DVD drives in new ‘Ultimate Xbox 360s’ lest you want to get smoked by Sony with their Blu-ray-equipped Playstation 3s around holiday time this coming year.

…#3 on my 2008 prediction list might be closer to coming to fruition, 4 days in to the year, exactly as I said it would happen too.

More thoughts:

• HD Digital Downloads Debut With DVD Release
• The Console Wars Have Spread to HD-DVD Vs. Blu-ray
• Paramount and Dreamworks Pick HD-DVD, Spielberg Refuses To Do the Same
• Blockbuster Sides With Blu-ray Will the Public Follow?
• Blu-ray Vs. HD-DVD
  
• Where Are All the Back-Catalog HD-DVD and Blu-ray Discs?