Key Takeaways
- Warner Bros. is shifting its gaming priorities, instead focusing on four key franchises.
- Moving forward, Harry Potter via Hogwarts Legacy, DC, specifically Batman, Game of Thrones and Mortal Kombat will be the company’s priority, according to its CEO.
- Massive losses in WB’s gaming division have caused the company to re-evaluate how it will do business.
Warner Bros. is ripe with exciting IPs across the board, including the characters and villains that make up the larger DC Universe, the properties of Adult Swim, Game of Thrones, Mortal Kombat and other hidden gems like Scooby-Doo and Samurai Jack.
But if you were hoping to see those properties cross over into games, then you’re out of luck.
Following disappointing sales across the board and financial losses, Warner Bros. has re-evaluated its gaming plans. As a result, the company is committed to focusing on just four franchises moving forward: Mortal Kombat, Batman, Harry Potter and Game of Thrones.
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WB Has Set Its Future
As part of WB’s latest earnings call, CEO David Zaslav lamented the state of Warner Bros.’ gaming initiatives. “I think we’re through some of the worst — and it hasn’t been pretty — on the gaming business,” Zaslav said, per a transcription by Insider-Gaming.
Indeed, WB has had some major misfortunes when it comes to games. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was reported to have caused a $200 million hole. Elsewhere, MultiVersus is responsible for an additional $100 million hit due to its own failures.
Those losses have forced the company to essentially double down on its bread-and-butter franchises. “But we have four games that are really powerful and have a real constituency that love them, and we’re going to focus on those four primarily,” he noted. “We’re going to go away from trying to launch 10, 12, 15, 20 different games. I think we have a real chance now with focus to have the gaming business be steadier.
“We have four strong and profitable game franchises with loyal, global fans: Hogwarts Legacy, Mortal Kombat, Game of Thrones, and DC, in particular, Batman. We are focusing our development efforts on those core franchises, with proven studios to improve our success ratio.”
Hogwarts Legacy is set to receive a definitive edition of some sort, and a sequel has been greenlit. Mortal Kombat recently launched its Khaos Reigns expansion and will likely continue to receive support in the form of additional fighters. As far as Game of Thrones is concerned, it’s unclear exactly what those plans are.
Elsewhere, DC saw the release of Gotham Knights in 2022 and the maligned Suicide Squad in early 2024, both featuring Batman. Meanwhile, the Wonder Woman game from Monolith is seemingly still in production, and could receive some new information before the end of the year. Either way, Zaslav’s comments paint a bleak picture for fans of WB IPs. Having video games dedicated to the same bunch of IPs is surely a recipe for fatigue across the board.
