Warner Bros. Games hasn't been having the greatest time in the gaming space following its success with Hogwarts Legacy. The massive loss from Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League's live service hopes and the recent flop of Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions seem to be affecting the company quite heavily. Now it says that several internal studios are being closed, with one of the major AAA releases it has been publishing being canceled entirely.
Confirmed to Kotaku by Warner Bros. Games, Monolith Productions, Player First Games, and WB San Diego are all being shuttered. At the same time, the DC Wonder Woman game that has been in development for years now has also been canceled.
Here's the full statement from Warner Bros. Games:
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.
For those unfamiliar, Monolith Productions is responsible for the action game Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and its sequel. It also developed F.E.A.R. and its sequel back in the day, as well as the No One Lives Forever series. The studio has been open making games since 1994, making its closure arrive exactly 30 years later.
The studio had been the leader developer of the Wonder Woman game, which received its announcement trailer back in 2021. The title was to be a single-player open-world action experience featuring the DC super heroine, and the studio's iconic Nemesis System was slated to return in it too. This feature was supposed to let players "forge deep connections with both enemies and allies as they progress."
Meanwhile, Player First Games has been responsible for MultiVersus, the platform fighter that was recently announced as shutting down. WB San Diego has been providing support for MultiVersus as well as other live service ventures.
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