WB Games, the video game publishing arm of Warner Bros. Discovery, is shutting down three of its development studios, including the developer behind Multiversus and a long-standing developer working on an upcoming Wonder Woman game.
Bloomberg broke the news of the shuttering last night, where reporting detailed that a memo had been sent to affected staff informing them that the studios would be shut down. The memo, sent by Warner Bros. head of games JB Perrette, reportedly said that the “quality of too many new releases has really missed the mark,” and that “substantial changes” were necessary to meet WB Games’ “fewer but bigger franchises” strategy.
The three studios set to shut down are Monolith Productions, Player First Games, and Warner Bros. Games San Diego.
Wonder Woman swinging her lasso of truth in a teaser for a Wonder Woman game.
WB Games
Monolith Productions was founded in 1994, before being acquired by Warner Bros. in 2004. The studio has a long and storied history, having created high-profile and well-received games like the FEAR series, Middle-earth: Shadow of Morder and Shadow of War, and Condemned. The studio had been working on a Wonder Woman game, set to use a similar Nemesis system as in the Middle-earth games, prior to its shutdown.
Player First Games had been a more recent addition to WB Games’ portfolio, with the studio having worked on the free-to-play fighting game Multiversus. The game had a troubled development cycle, having been initially released in early access before being pulled from digital storefronts for a year, despite having found a dedicated community. Once it returned in 2024, Multiversus failed to find success, with WB Games announcing last month that it would be delisted and have all online functionality turned off later this year.
WB Games San Diego was a “cross-platform free-to-play” game developer formed in 2019, but has not released any games. The number of employees laid off across the three studios due to the shutdowns has not yet been revealed.
Kotaku’s Ethan Gach received the following statement from WB Games:
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 video game 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.
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