Warner Bros. is shutting down three of its video-game studios and cancelling development on the troubled Wonder Woman title after the company’s gaming division bled $300 million (roughly Rs. 2,627 crore) in losses in 2024. The media giant intends to refocus on its “bigger franchises” after a string of underperforming releases and leadership turmoil that has left a thin slate of upcoming games. The shuttered studios include Middle-Earth: Shadow of War developer Monolith Productions, MultiVersus maker Player First Games, and support studio Warner Bros. Games San Diego.
Warner Bros. Shuts 3 Studios
The move, first reported by Bloomberg on Wednesday, reflects Warner Bros. Games’ intention to make structural changes to its teams and portfolio as it turns its attention to marquee WB franchises like Harry Potter, Batman, Mortal Kombat, and Game of Thrones.
“The quality of too many of our new releases has really missed the mark,” Warner Bros.’ games and streaming boss JB Perrette said in an internal memo to staff seen by Bloomberg. “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.”
In a statement to Kotaku after the news broke, Warner Bros. confirmed the studio closures and the cancellation of the Wonder Woman game, and its decision did not reflect the affected teams and their staff.
“We have had to make some very difficult decisions to structure our development studios and investments around building the best games possible with our key franchises -– Harry Potter, Mortal Kombat, DC and Game of Thrones. After careful consideration, we are closing three of our development studios – Monolith Productions, Player First Games and Warner Bros. Games San Diego. This is a strategic change in direction and not a reflection of these teams or the talent that consists within them,” Warner Bros. Games said in the statement.
“The development of Monolith’s Wonder Woman videogame will not move forward. Our hope was to give players and fans the highest quality experience possible for the iconic character, and unfortunately this is no longer possible within our strategic priorities. This is another tough decision, as we recognize Monolith’s storied history of delivering epic fan experiences through amazing games. We greatly admire the passion of the three teams and thank every employee for their contributions. 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.”
Wonder Woman Cancelled
Warner Bros. had struggled to get the Wonder Woman game off the ground after years spent in development, as detailed by a separate Bloomberg report earlier this month. The company had already spent over a $100 million (roughly Rs. 875 crore) on the game, in the works at Monolith, before it was rebooted in 2024. Monolith, a subsidiary of WB Games, had previously worked on acclaimed video games like Fear, Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor and its sequel, Middle Earth: Shadow of War.
Player First Games developed the free-to-play fighting game MultiVersus, which despite initial success, ended up contributing to $100 million in losses at Warner Bros. Games in 2024. WB Games announced last month it was ending development on MultiVersus, confirming the fifth season would be the game’s final one. The cross-over fighting game will be taken offline on May 30.
Warner Bros. losses in 2024 ballooned largely due to the failure of Rocksteady Studios’ triple-A release, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. The live service title failed to attract players and wound down content updates last month, a year after it launched on January 30, 2024. Rocksteady is now said to be eyeing a Batman game as its next project, returning to single-player story driven games that put the studio on the map.
Warner Bros., meanwhile, is staring at thin release calendar for games, with cancelled projects, misfiring live service titles failing to sustain consistent revenue, and major projects like Hogwarts Legacy sequel and games based on DC years away from release. DC Studios boss James Gunn recently said at an event that a DC Universe video game was at least a couple of years away.
