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In another heavy blow to the video games industry, Warner Bros. Games is shutting down three of its studios: Monolith Productions, Player First Games, and WB San Diego, cancelling its planned Wonder Woman game in the process.
The news was confirmed by WB Games via a statement to Kotaku, which read:
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.
This comes after reports that the publisher was struggling amidst poor performance from its recent titles, most notably last year’s Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which cost the company US$200 million due to its lacklustre reception, and the shutdown of the multiplayer platform fighting game MultiVersus after its season five update following a disappointing launch.
Among the three studios shuttered, Monolith Productions is perhaps best known for 2014’s Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and its 2017 follow-up Middle-earth: Shadow of War, with the former introducing the acclaimed Nemesis system, which Warner Bros. patented in 2021. The studio had been working on its planned Wonder Woman game, which was in development for more than three years, although earlier reports had already indicated that the game was in trouble after being rebooted last year and costing more than US$100 million.
The two remaining studios, Player First Games and WB San Diego, were much newer in comparison, both established in 2019, with the former in charge of the aforementioned MultiVersus and the latter focused on free-to-play mobile games.
In a further statement to Polygon, CEO and president of global streaming and games for Warner Bros. Discovery JB Perrette explained that the company’s restructuring was due to a “disappointing 2024” for its games division, adding that focus will be shifted to four franchises moving forward: Harry Potter/Hogwarts Legacy, Mortal Kombat, DC and Game of Thrones. Regarding Wonder Woman, he stated that the game no longer fell “within [their] strategic priorities” and is now looking to “repurpose [their] talent where possible”, with the team now focusing on “fewer but bigger franchises” to regain their credibility and get back on their feet.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
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Edwin Teo
