Warner Bros. Games Shuts Down Monolith Productions, Player First Games, and WB San Diego Amid Restructuring Efforts

Warner Bros. Games has announced the closure of three of its game studios: Monolith Productions, Player First Games, and WB San Diego. In early February, Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier reported on an ongoing restructuring within the company. At that time, David Haddad, the president of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, stepped down after leading the division for 12 years.

Monolith had revealed plans for a Wonder Woman game back in 2021, but Warner Bros. Games has now confirmed the cancellation of this project. Founded in 2004, the studio is known for titles such as F.E.A.R, Middle-Earth: Shadow of War, The Operative: No One Lives Forever, Contract J.A.C.K., and Condemned: Criminal Origins. Monolith became a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Games the same year it was established.

The decision to restructure and close these studios came after the disappointing performance of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and the struggles of MultiVersus, according to Kotaku.

Warner Bros. Games explained that it needs to reorganize its studios and focus investments on developing top-quality games based on key franchises, which include Mortal Kombat, Harry Potter, DC, and Game of Thrones. The company expressed gratitude to the developers of the three studios for their contributions to various projects. Warner Bros. aims to restore its gaming business to profitability and growth by 2025.

Player First Games developed the free-to-play MultiVersus, which launched in spring last year, and was working on an unannounced cross-platform AAA title. The fifth season of MultiVersus will be its last. Meanwhile, WB San Diego was developing a multiplayer game set in the DC universe.

Schreier notes that the failure of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League cost Warner Bros. Games around $200 million. Other projects, including Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions, also struggled to gain traction with gamers. A Bloomberg report attributed part of the publisher’s challenges to ineffective upper management.

The layoffs at the three studios were communicated in an email from J.B. Perrette, the CEO of Warner Bros. Global Streaming and Games. He emphasized that the company needs to «regain trust and momentum by creating outstanding games.» He also mentioned that restoring the company’s reputation is crucial for attracting further investments in gaming.

WB Games Montreal is currently working on a new title within the Game of Thrones franchise, while Rocksteady Studios plans to develop a single-player Batman project.