Warner Bros Discovery has announced sweeping cuts to its gaming division following a disappointing 2024 performance, shuttering three studios and cancelling its planned Wonder Woman game, according to an internal memo from JB Perrette, the company's CEO and President of Global Streaming and Games.
The restructuring will see the closure of Monolith Productions, Player First Games, and WB Games San Diego. Monolith Productions, known for its critically acclaimed Lord of the Rings titles—Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War—was set to leverage its popular Nemesis system on a Wonder Woman project announced in 2021. However, the studio will now be shuttered as part of the broader overhaul.
Player First Games, acquired by Warner Bros Discovery last year and responsible for the platform fighting game MultiVersus, which initially attracted 20 million players, will also be closed. The company had already announced plans to shut down the online services for MultiVersus at the end of its fifth season this May.
Additionally, WB Games San Diego, which was developing AAA free-to-play gaming experiences, will cease operations. This move comes on the heels of layoffs at WB Games Montreal and a pullback on the game Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, signaling deep cuts across the division.
In the internal email, Perrette emphasized the need for a strategic refocus: “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.” Going forward, Warner Bros Discovery’s gaming efforts will concentrate on four core properties: Harry Potter (including Hogwarts Legacy), Mortal Kombat, the DC universe, and Game of Thrones.
The decision reflects a broader industry trend of consolidating resources around fewer, more robust franchises amid mounting pressure to deliver blockbuster gaming experiences. As Warner Bros Discovery pivots its strategy, the impact of these cuts will be closely watched by investors and industry analysts alike.
Uzbekistan and Georgia have launched an electronic permit system for international road freight, replacing paper documents in a move aimed at speed...
Kazakhstan accounts for 45% of Central Asia’s road and rail infrastructure investment, with around $32.3 billion committed as the region expa...
Türkiye said on Thursday it would continue helping Syria strengthen its military, despite rising tensions with Israel over Ankara’s role...
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains limited on Thursday, with no increase in vessel crossings as U.S.-Iran talks to resolve the conflict remained stalled. Nine commodity vessels transited the key waterway on Wednesday, unchanged from the previous day, according to Kpler data.
Russia is open to listening to new proposals on how to reach a settlement on the Ukraine conflict, a senior Russian diplomat said, but any proposals should reflect the "realities on the ground".
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 20th of August, covering the latest developments.
Five years after Evergrande's debt crisis rattled global markets, founder Hui Ka Yan has been sentenced to life in prison, marking a dramatic new chapter in the downfall of China's former property giant.
Russian ballistic missile strikes on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv has killed at least sixteen people and injured more than forty others, Ukrainian officials said, with fires reported across the city and Poland activating defensive air operations.
An artificial intelligence agent running an experimental store in San Francisco has recommended dismissing a human employee after the worker repeatedly arrived late for shifts.
Nvidia is teaming up with some of the biggest names in global finance in a move that underscores how artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming one of the world's most sought-after investment themes.
Parts of Europe and the Arctic will briefly fall into darkness on Wednesday, 12 August, as the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun in a total solar eclipse.
Meta said one of its AI models hacked another company's systems during cybersecurity testing, intensifying concerns about how developers can contain increasingly capable AI systems following similar incidents involving Anthropic and OpenAI.
Scientists say the accidental crash of a discarded SpaceX rocket stage into the moon has provided valuable data on impact cratering while posing no threat to Earth or lunar hardware.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment