Warner Bros. Discovery is making more drastic cuts to its gaming division. The company has canceled its highly anticipated Wonder Woman game and is shutting down three studios—Monolith Productions, Player First Games, and Warner Bros. Games San Diego. This move raises bigger questions about the company’s long-term gaming ambitions.
The decision to shut down Monolith Productions is shocking because this is the studio behind the critically acclaimed Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and its sequel, Shadow of War. This expertise makes them a natural fit for the Wonder Woman project. It seems Warner Bros. Doesn’t want to bet on superhero games unless they are guaranteed blockbusters.
Player First Games is known for MultiVersus which had a promising launch but a rough journey. It didn’t live up to expectations and never really bounced back. Warner Bros. Games San Diego was working on unannounced projects and now we will never know about those.
In the official statement, Warner Bros. says it canceled Wonder Woman because it could no longer “deliver the highest quality experience possible” within its “strategic priorities.” Just to simplify, they don’t think the game would be profitable enough.
Warner Bros. Discovery has been struggling with its gaming division for a while now. The company reported a loss of $300 last year. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was a high-profile flop and MultiVersus failed to maintain momentum. Hogwarts Legacy remains the company’s only major success in recent years.
WB will now focus on key franchises like Harry Potter, Mortal Kombat, DC, and Game of Thrones. It seems the company is cutting costs wherever possible and is shifting to fewer but bigger-budget games.
