Warner Bros. Discovery has shut down three of its video game studios and canceled a Wonder Woman game as part of a strategic restructuring, one that the company hopes will improve the profitability of what is apparently an underperforming division.
The studios being shuttered are Monolith Productions (F.E.A.R., Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor), Player First Games (MultiVersus), and Warner Bros. Games San Diego, according to a memo that Warner Bros. sent out to several press outlets this afternoon:
We have had to make some very difficult decisions to structure our development studios and investments around building the best games possible with our key franchises—Harry Potter, Mortal Kombat, DC, and Game of Thrones. After careful consideration, we are closing three of our development studios—-Monolith Productions, Player First Games, and Warner Bros. Games San Diego. This is a strategic change in direction and not a reflection of these teams or the talent that consists within them.
The development of Monolith’s Wonder Woman video game will not move forward. Our hope was to give players and fans the highest quality experience possible for the iconic character, and unfortunately this is no longer possible within our strategic priorities. This is another tough decision, as we recognize Monolith’s storied history of delivering epic fan experiences through amazing games.
We greatly admire the passion of the three teams and thank every employee for their contributions. As difficult as today is, we remain focused on and excited about getting back to producing high-quality games for our passionate fans and developed by our world class studios and getting our games business back to profitability and growth in 2025 and beyond.
Here’s the teaser trailer for Monolith Productions’ Wonder Woman project, which Warner Bros. Games shared in December 2021:
“In development by Monolith Productions, creators of the critically acclaimed Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and sequel Middle-earth: Shadow of War, this open-world action-adventure game will feature the beloved DC Super Hero, Wonder Woman,” a description for the canceled project reads.
“The single player open-world action game will introduce an original story set in the DC Universe and allow players to become Diana of Themyscira in the fight to unite her Amazon family and the humans from the modern world,” it continues. “Powered by the Nemesis System, gamers will forge deep connections with both enemies and allies as they progress from a heroic fighter into a proven leader.”
Discussion (8 replies)
Join Discussion →Kind of figured this was going to happen after it was reported the game was getting rebooted and already had a substantial amount of money down the drain in development costs.
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I don't see the issue. Star Citizen keeps rebooting and getting development money. Oh yea people not looking to extract cash but gameplay. As gullible as we are. (backed in 2013 here.)
There is a big difference between Star Ponzi and everything else. Star Ponzi is crowd funded. As long as dumbass people keep buying JPEGs and empty promises CIG has the resources they need to continue to fund that scheme. Publishers and investors will not sink money into a studio on fruitless projects forever. They can't afford to do so.
WB is probably the dumbest IP holder of them all. They are sitting on a flock of golden geese but keeping them on a strict diet that only allows them to lay turds.
I was actually looking forward for the WW game, on the slim hope that it will be aimed at players, not activists.
They are keeping rocksteady, responsible for one of the biggest gaming flops ever (Suicide squad) but shutting down monolith, responsible for one of their biggest successes (Shadow of Mordor). I can't help but suspect ideological reasons behind it.
The closure of Monolith is really f*cking sad.
I'm betting most of the team is gone already so the closure is more about admitting that the seats are empty.
Not only that but the people that developed the games Monolith were known for are largely gone. We know who the writing staff were on Wonder Woman and it didn't bode well. These developers also couldn't get the patented "Nemesis" system to work with the game. Again, another bad sign.