What’s going on with WB Games right now?

Warner Bros. Games has discussed its business strategy in recent weeks, but it appears to be full of contradictions. Hogwarts legacythe AAA single-player Harry Potter game, was one of the best-selling games of 2023, but the company instead plans to focus on live service and free-to-play games in the future, as well as the underpowered performing games Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. WB Games is reviving a game it took offline last year before unpublishing a series of games that had been playable for years. And we can’t forget that the game being revived is a Super Smash Bros.-style brawler MultiVersus, features characters from various Warner Bros.’ failed properties, such as the Space Jam Restart, Black Adamand a whole bunch of Looney Tunes in the aftermath of Coyote vs. Acme.

These are a few weeks in which many people wonder: What’s going on with WB Games’ strategy?

The company has been in a strange state of limbo for some time now. Warner Bros. Games is part of Warner Bros. Discovery’s Global Streaming and Interactive Entertainment unit. It was previously known as Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment before AT&T spun off WarnerMedia and merged it with Discovery to form the new company Warner Bros. to create discovery. (Got all that?) For a while after the merger, the fate of Warner Bros.’ the gaming division was unclear; AT&T originally told IGN that some of its game studios would be sold, but not all. Finally, only mobile developer Playdemic was sold. (Before the merger, in 2020, AT&T was reportedly trying to sell its gaming division for up to $4 billion, but the company ultimately retained it. That was ultimately a good decision, because games have “contributed greatly” to Warner Bros. finances. Discovery.) But like the rest of the industry, Warner Bros.’ There is a divide in gaming during a period of volatility.

Lately we’ve gotten a better idea of ​​what’s going on. Jean-Briac Perrette, president and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery streaming and games, outlined its video game strategy at a Morgan Stanley event in early March, where he confirmed that the company will be “doubling down on games” as a “growth opportunity” by leveraging its wide range of intellectual property. (Warner Bros. is obsessed with its own IP; Variety said in January (that company CEO David Zaslav “can’t make a single earnings call without bragging about the strength of the company’s rich intellectual property.”) But Perrette also described the video game industry as “volatile” — saying that the success of big budget games such as Hogwarts legacy is not guaranteed.

Although the Harry Potter game was a huge success, it broke Call of Duty’s four-year streak as the number one game in the US – that of 2024 Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leaguethe company’s other recent big-budget video game, underperformed. Inexplicably, Perrette said that Warner Bros. wants more live service games (a genre). Kill the Justice League falls in) to smooth out some of that volatility. “How can we, instead of just launching a one-off console game, develop a game around, say, a Hogwarts Legacy or Harry Potter, which is a live service where people can live and work and build and play in that world? continual?” Perret said.

Carelessly, MultiVersus is expected to play a major role in that live service plan, leveraging the attention Warner Bros. asks of his players And using the extensive selection of characters. The thing with MultiVersusHowever, it is true that Warner Bros. and developer Player First Games pulled the game from digital stores in April following its 2022 release, with plans to relaunch it in 2024. While the game was technically in open beta, that wasn’t entirely clear. to all players. People were clearly disappointed to see the game go offline, especially those who had invested money in characters and other microtransactions. But even before it went offline, the game was struggling. MultiVersus had lost 99% of its player base on Windows PC just six months after release, largely due to a lack of content. For MultiVersus To succeed this time, Warner Bros. being more aggressive in what it puts out; perhaps with an emphasis on live service.

By most accounts, Warner Bros.’ two recent live-service projects. failed, which reflects the state of live service as a whole. It may not be the smartest place to invest. Yes, it means people are committed for a long time, but only if they feel compelled to stay. Live service games don’t necessarily die (Fortnite remains popular, among other things), but the genre is changing. Last year, several live service games were shut down, such as those from Epic Games Junk versewhich went offline just six months after launch. Lot 2, which was once wildly successful, has recently suffered declining player numbers, leading to layoffs at Sony-owned Bungie. The Warner Bros. conglomerate Discovery plans to invest more in an area that has proven less successful of late is a decision that feels misplaced, but not entirely surprising when you consider some of Warner Bros.’s other moves. takes into account, both within gaming and elsewhere.

Image: Player First Games/Warner Bros. Games

Coyote vs. Acmethe completed but shelved film that shares many character crossovers MultiVersus, is just another example of this type of confusing decision; Warner Bros. canceled the film due to a shift to a “global strategy to focus on theatrical releases.” according to The Wrap. (It made a similar move by cutting its $90 million Batgirl film.) Then a nearby source Coyote vs. Acme told The Wrap that scrapping a completed film was subsequently seen as “an acceptable way to deal with an issue.” It seems that the game managers at Warner Bros. learned a lesson from that strategy when the division decided to remove a series of Adult Swim Games titles from Steam and other digital stores. Warner Bros. has not yet commented on this move, which was reported after several developers were notified that their games were going offline and they could no longer regain control of them. Eighteen or more games could be affected, but the final number is not yet clear. To put that into perspective, the majority of these games have been published for years – some for over a decade. Developers and players alike were stunned when they heard the news: why would you take offline a game that has been around for years?

Warner Bros. has once again made no comment, which has only fueled speculation that the company is prioritizing short-term profits over long-term sustainability. Taking these games offline could have short-term benefits, in that there are no maintenance costs – if there was much to begin with – and no responsibility for Warner Bros. to spend royalties. But Warner Bros. could also see it as a way to “streamline” its video game catalog to realign with the new focus on its live service and mobile offerings.

Warner Bros. will, of course, still be making single-player experiences – there’s currently a Wonder Woman game in the works, plus what its dozen or so of its own studios are working on – as part of the “strategic investment plan” that Perrette briefly mentioned in early March. Perrette expects the vision to come to life in 2025 and beyond, as the company lays the new foundation for this strategy. All we do know is that Warner Bros. IP is king, with Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, DC and Mortal Kombat each valued at $1 billion within the video game industry. Variety claimed. And there’s no doubt that Warner Bros.’ IP slate is impressive, which could be the boon that Warner Bros. ultimately completely relies on it.

“A very consistent message coming from the executive levels of Warner Bros. Discovery is the importance of franchises,” said David Haddad, president of Warner Bros. Interactive told Variety in January. “There is a unique and important role that games play in keeping our franchises relevant, resonant and exciting because there are many fans and many people consume content where games are their entry point.”