Warner Bros. Discovery has cancelled its long-awaited Wonder Woman video game, as well as shut down three game development studios. Another day, another round of layoffs in the video games industry.
As first reported by Bloomberg, Warner Bros. Discovery is closing Monolith Productions, Player First Games, and Warner Bros. Games San Diego. The company's games division will now focus its efforts on four key, established franchises: Harry Potter, Mortal Kombat, Game of Thrones, and DC.
Even so, Wonder Woman and other DC characters are reportedly being pushed aside in favour of returning attention to Batman. Disregarding VR, mobile, and 2024's Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League spinoff, it's been a decade since the last console game in Warner Bros. Games' popular Batman: Arkham series.
"We need to make some substantial changes to our portfolio/team structure if we are to commit the necessary resources to get back to a 'fewer but bigger franchises' strategy," Warner Bros. Discovery's global streaming and games head JB Perrette said in a staff memo viewed by Bloomberg.
A Warner Bros. Games spokesperson confirmed the news in a statement to Mashable, noting that the decision to shut down the studios "is a strategic change in direction and not a reflection of these teams or the talent that consists within them." In an internal email seen by Polygon, Perrette reportedly stated that Warner Bros. aims to "repurpose [its] talent where possible," with employees to be shifted to different roles within the company.
"Our hope was to give players and fans the highest quality experience possible for the iconic character [of Wonder Woman], and unfortunately this is no longer possible within our strategic priorities," the spokesperson said. "As difficult as today is, we remain focused on and excited about getting back to producing high-quality games for our passionate fans and developed by our world class studios and getting our Games business back to profitability and growth in 2025 and beyond."
The decision to shut down the three studios follows the disappointing performance of a string of Warner Bros. Games titles, not all of which the condemned developers were responsible for. While Player First Games' MultiVersus failed to garner an enduring audience, both Rocksteady Studios' Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and Unbroken Studios' Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions were released to disappointing reviews last year, the three combined contributing to a $300 million writedown. The failure of such titles seems to have prompted Warner Bros. Discovery to reassess its approach, with Perrette reportedly stating that the quality of their newer games had "really missed the mark."
Prior to its closure, Monolith Productions had been working on a Wonder Woman video game which was initially announced to much fanfare back in 2021. Founded in 1994 and acquired by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment in 2004 (now Warner Bros. Games), Monolith Productions was the studio behind titles such as F.E.A.R, Gotham City Imposters, and 2014 hit Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor.
Sadly, the developer's Wonder Woman project struggled. Bloomberg previously reported that the game had been rebooted, changed directors, already cost over $100 million, and was still years from completion. It seems that Warner Bros. Discovery has now decided to simply cut its losses and cancel the game altogether.
Player First Games at least got to ship MultiVersus, a free-to-play platform fighting game featuring characters from Warner Bros. properties such as Looney Tunes, Game of Thrones, Cartoon Network, and DC Comics. Created with the support of Warner Bros. Games San Diego, MultiVersus fully launched in May 2024 following an early access period, with Warner Bros. Games subsequently acquiring Player First Games that July.
Unfortunately, MultiVersus ultimately survived for less than a year, as Warner Bros. announced this January that support for the game would end within the coming months. Warner Bros. Games' spokesperson confirmed to Mashable that despite the news of Player First Games' and Warner Bros. Games San Diego's closure, the date of MultiVersus' planned shutdown still remains May 30. It's unclear whether at least one of them might get a stay of execution until then, or if another studio will take over.
The video games industry has suffered a slew of layoffs over the past few years. Estimates suggest that over 9000 people were laid off in 2023, while in 2024 almost the same number were cut within the first three months alone. This figure includes PlayStation laying off approximately 900 employees, as well as Electronic Arts cutting five percent of its workforce. It does not include Grand Theft Auto IV publisher Take-Two Interactive's own dismissal of five percent of its workforce last April.
