Warner Bros. Games Closes Three Studios: Impact on ‘Multiversus’ Developer and What It Means for Gamers

This week brings more tough news for the animation, VFX, and video game industries. After the collapse of Technicolor and the closure of Montreal’s On Animation Studios, Warner Bros. Discovery also announced the shutdown of three of its video game development studios.

The studios closing are Monolith Productions, Player First Games, and Warner Bros. Games San Diego. The layoffs will likely affect hundreds of employees, though the exact number is still unclear.

JB Perrette, WBD’s CEO, mentioned in a memo, “The quality of too many of our new releases has really missed the mark. We need to make substantial changes to our portfolio and team structure to focus on fewer but bigger franchises.”

Warner Bros. has decided to concentrate on just four main franchises: Hogwarts Legacy, Mortal Kombat, Game of Thrones, and the Batman series.

Monolith Productions, based in Kirkland, Washington, has a long history dating back to 1994. Acquired by Warner Bros. in 2004, it’s known for games like Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and F.E.A.R.. The studio was also working on a Wonder Woman game, now unfortunately canceled.

Player First Games, located in Los Angeles, was acquired by Warner Bros. just last year. They are known for creating Multiversus, a free-to-play platform fighter. However, the game underperformed, leading WB to announce a nearly $100 million loss in recent earnings.

As for Warner Bros. Games San Diego, which started in 2019, details about its projects before closure remain unknown.

This shutdown is part of larger cutbacks at WB Games. Earlier in December, WB Games Montreal also laid off around 100 staff members. Despite this, Warner Bros. still owns at least nine studios in the gaming sector.

Warner Bros. will reveal its fourth-quarter earnings this Thursday, which should provide more insight into its future gaming strategy.