End for the "Wonder Woman" game: Warner Bros. closes three development studios
After several financial losses in the gaming industry, Warner Bros. is pulling the ripcord. As part of a "strategic realignment", the company is closing three studios.
The entertainment group Warner Bros. has announced the closure of three of its game development studios in the USA. This affects "Monolith Productions", "Player First Games" and "Warner Bros. Games San Diego". The development of a "Wonder Woman" game announced in 2021 will be discontinued. Warner Bros. Games (WBG), the Group's gaming division, intends to focus on its most important franchises: Harry Potter, "Mortal Kombat" and games from the DC universe, which includes the "Batman" series, for example.
"Strategic realignment" after unpopular games
WBG was founded in 1993. The company publishes and develops video games, including successful titles such as "Hogwarts Legacy", "Mortal Kombat", various Lego games and the "Middle-earth" series, which includes "Shadow of Mordor".
There has been no press release about the closures, but Warner Bros confirmed the rumours to Kotaku magazine via email. The statement reads like most other statements on studio closures - such as Ubisoft: The difficult decision had been made after careful consideration, it was a strategic realignment to continue developing the best games possible, the teams involved are thanked for their passion and dedication.
As Kotaku reports, recent games - especially the flopped "Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League" and multiplayer games such as "Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions" - cost the company a lot of money. Suicide Squad alone is said to have caused a loss of 200 million US dollars. At the end of January 2025, WBG had already announced the end of the online mode of "Multiversus" https://multiversus.com/en/news/multiversus-update. The game was released in 2022. From the end of May, "Multiversus" will only be playable locally.
How many employees are affected by the closures?
WBG did not disclose exactly how many people will be made redundant. "Monolith Productions" was founded in 1994 and acquired by WBG in 2004. At the time, the studio had "more than 100" employees. It is responsible for "Aliens versus Predator" and the two "Middle-earth" games, among others. "Wonder Woman" was also developed by this studio.
"Player First Games" has existed since 2018 and is responsible for "Multiversus" with a smaller team of possibly around 50 people. It was only connected to WBG in July 2024.
"Warner Bros. Games San Diego" is a separate foundation of WBG. The studio was opened in 2019 and primarily develops mobile games.
Warner Bros.
Header image: Shutterstock/Grand Warszawski
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