WB Games Closes Doors on Three Internal Studios Amidst Collaborations with Monolith and Player First
Image by job of Player First Games/WB Games.
Warner Bros. Games is allegedly closing down three studios: Monolith Productions, Player First Games, and its namesake San Diego employees.
According to Jason Schreier from Bloomberg, these three creators will be shutting down later this week. Monolith’s Wonder Woman project has also been scrapped due to the studio’s closure.
“This is a strategic shift in our approach and does not reflect on the teams or the talent within them,” WB Games stated in a statement. “We have great respect for the dedication of these teams and express our gratitude to each employee for their efforts.”
How Warner Bros. Games arrived at this point
In 2024, Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League turned out to be a major financial failure for WB Games, and the company has been striving to recover ever since.
Earlier in February, Bloomberg reported on the challenges facing the publisher and the risks within its various internal teams. This report followed the exit of the video games head David Haddad at the end of January, whose time was described by some developers as “years of ineffective trend-chasing and wasted development time.”
According to that report, Monolith discreetly rebooted its Wonder Woman game, which reportedly had a budget exceeding $100 million. WB’s statement indicated that their desire to deliver the highest quality experience for the beloved character…is no longer feasible within our strategic objectives.”
The studio’s last game was 2017’s Middle-earth: Shadow of War.
Player First launched the platform fighter MultiVersus, first in Early Access in 2022, then as a full release in 2024. The game was already scheduled to be shut down at the end of May, and the studio had been acquired by WB shortly after its official launch.
WB Games was founded in 2019, with the goal of developing free-to-play mobile games.
Earlier this week, co-head of DC Films James Gunn reaffirmed the company’s commitment to video games and mentioned he had discussions with Rocksteady and NetherRealm regarding upcoming DC titles. According to him, significant DC games are “a couple of years away,” which might be overly optimistic, considering today’s developments.
About the Author
Contributing Editor, GameDeveloper.com
A resident of Kansas City, MO, Justin Carter has contributed to numerous platforms including IGN, Polygon, and SyFy Wire. Besides Game Developer, his work can also be found at io9 on Gizmodo. Don’t ask him how much gum he’s had, as the answer will likely be more than he’s willing to admit.