Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. is closing three video-game studios and halting work on a highly anticipated Wonder Woman title in a bid to boost the profitability of its interactive entertainment business.
Monolith Productions, Player First Games and Warner Bros. Games San Diego are being shuttered, according to a memo to staff viewed by Bloomberg News.
The cuts reflect a refocusing of the games division on major franchises such as Harry Potter, Mortal Kombat, Game of Thrones and DC Comics, primarily Batman.
“The quality of too many of our new releases has really missed the mark,” JB Perrette, head of games and streaming for Warner Bros., wrote in the memo. “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 Bloomberg, a spokesperson for Warner Bros. Games said the shutdowns were “not a reflection of these teams or the talent that consists within them.”
Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that the Wonder Woman game was in trouble and that the Warner Bros. Games unit was facing a difficult 2025 following the underperformance of last year’s Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, MultiVersus and Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions. Current and former employees blamed the weak slate on indecisiveness and a lack of vision under president David Haddad, who stepped down in January.
Monolith, based in Kirkland, Washington, had been making video games since 1994 including cult classics such as The Operative: No One Lives Forever and F.E.A.R. In 2014, it received critical acclaim for Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, an action game set in The Lord of the Rings universe.
Player First Games was purchased by Warner Bros. last July, just before the release of its sole game, MultiVersus. Last month, Warner Bros. said it was shutting down that title following poor performance.
Bloomberg
