In what it called “a strategic change of direction,” Warner Bros. Games is scrapping a planned Wonder Woman game and also closing three development studios.
The Warner Bros. Discovery division confirmed the moves to Deadline in a 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,” the statement said. “After careful consideration, we are closing three of our development studios – Monolith Productions, Player First Games and Warner Bros. Games San Diego.”
Monolith had been developing the Wonder Woman game, which will no longer move forward.
The division described the collection of moves as “a strategic change in direction and not a reflection of these teams or the talent that consists within them.” For Wonder Woman, the goal had been 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.”
Given Monolith’s “storied history,” the shutdown is “another tough decision,” as we recognize Monolith’s storied history of delivering epic fan experiences through amazing games,” the statement continued. “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.”
The gaming unit has hit a particularly rocky period after releasing top-selling title Hogwarts Legacy in 2023. Last month, the company said David Haddad was stepping down from his post as president after a 12-year run.
Developing properties in-house, as Netflix and other newer gaming entrants have discovered, is often an expensive and time-consuming process. Many media companies have opted to license their franchises to third-party gaming specialists. In its quarterly earnings report last November, the company announced it was taking a $100 million impairment charge for underperforming releases like MultiVersus. The division needs to “deliver more consistency,” CEO David Zaslav said during an earnings call with Wall Street analysts.
WBD is set to report fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday.
Bloomberg had the first report of the game studio closures.
