Warner Bros. Games has shut down multiple studios including Monolith Productions, the developers behind Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. The publisher has also canceled Monolith’s next project: a Wonder Woman game announced back in 2021. The culling affects hundreds of employees across three separate studios.
Warner Bros’ videogames division has been on the ropes in recent months after high-profile flops like Suicide Squad Kill The Justice League and Multiversus. Monolith Productions, however, was one of the publisher’s crown jewels. Shadow of Mordor was a massive hit and critical success, often considered one of the best open world games ever. Its Wonder Woman game, though, was reportedly facing challenges and never got promoted beyond an initial 2021 teaser. Monolith Productions has been an active developer since the 1997 boomer shooter Blood and created cult classics like Tron 2.0 and Condemned: Criminal Origins.
WB Games also shut down two other studios: Player First, which was the developer behind the free-to-play fighter Multiversus, and Warner Bros. Games San Diego.
Bloomberg first broke the news, and Kotaku received a statement from WB Games confirming it, which claims the “difficult” studio closures were due to a company wide restructure around “key franchises.” The publisher’s statement does not clarify whether any of the three studios’ employees have been reallocated to different teams, or stated what severance benefits they might receive if let go. Here is the full statement:
“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.”
“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.”
Layoffs have been a regular part of the landscape of game development over the past few years. However, a game’s success or failure is no guarantee of what will happen to a studio’s employees. Even massively successful games like Marvel Rivals have seen serious cuts. Hi-Fi Rush launched to strong sales and critical acclaim, only for Microsoft to close the studio a few months later (it was later purchased by publisher Krafton).