The status of Warner Bros. Discovery’s video game division is once again in flux, and the company is hoping to license out its big properties.
During its earnings call for the second quarter of the 2024-2025 fiscal year (thanks, IGN), CEO David Zaslav said outside studios could “take advantage” of franchises like Harry Potter and DC. “We have 11 studios here, and a lot of IP. […] We need to get bigger.”
In the past, WB licensed out its games to third-party developers. But many of these, like Rocksteady and TT Games (along with Player First more recently) were later acquired to continue making WB titles.
To WB’s streaming/games global head Jamie Perette, licensing will help balance out its games business. MultiVersus is doing fine in free-to-play, but he acknowledged the “lumpiness” of full-priced games that take three or four years (or more) and millions of dollars to make.
Put another way, WB is still feeling the hurt from Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Rocksteady’s troubled live-service shooter has been repeatedly cited as a failure for WB Games, both on its own merits and in relation to Hogwarts Legacy.
Whereas the 2023 game was a billion dollar hit, Suicide Squad led to a 41 percent decline in games revenue. “We went from a record year with Hogwarts to unfortunately having the opposite side of that spectrum with Squad,” said Perrette.
Earlier this week, it was reported that WB was looking to sell off its games division entirely. Along with Squad’s continued disappointment, the WB-owned NetherRealm recently axed its mobile team and its phone game Mortal Kombat: Onslaught.