By Sagar V. Mankar 
Warner Bros. is reportedly making major cuts to its gaming division. According to a social media post from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, the media giant is said to be shutting down three of its game studios: Monolith Productions, Player First Games, and WB San Diego.
The closure of Monolith Productions comes as a particular surprise to many industry observers. This studio created the popular Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War games, which were both commercial and critical successes. Shadow of War even became the top-selling game of October 2017. The studio had been working on a Wonder Woman game, which is now reportedly canceled as part of these shutdowns.
Player First Games, the developer behind the platform fighter MultiVersus, is also said to be closing. This comes as less of a shock since Warner Bros. had already announced that MultiVersus would be shutting down this May after struggling to maintain its player base. Reports suggest MultiVersus resulted in losses of approximately $100 million for the company.
These reported closures follow a difficult period for Warner Bros. Games. Earlier this year, the publisher released Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which allegedly cost the company around $200 million in losses, significantly more than initially thought.
The troubles at Warner Bros. Games extend beyond just these recent failures. According to Bloomberg’s earlier reporting, the division has been facing issues under the leadership of David Haddad, who served as president for nearly a decade. Former employees described a lack of clear vision that led to “ineffectual trend-chasing and wasted development time.”
Many of the studios under Warner Bros. struggled with indecision from management. At Monolith, for example, developers went more than seven years without releasing a game. The studio began work on a new franchise after Shadow of War’s 2017 release, but Warner Bros. executives pushed them to use an existing IP instead. This standoff lasted for years before the project was finally canceled in 2021, leading to the departure of Monolith’s head and many senior staff.
WB Games Montreal faced similar challenges. After creating Batman: Arkham Origins in 2013, the studio was directed to create a live-service Batman game. They eventually abandoned the live-service elements and released Gotham Knights in 2022, which received mediocre reviews. Subsequent pitches for games based on John Constantine and The Flash were either delayed or canceled entirely.
While Warner Bros. did find success with Hogwarts Legacy, which sold over 30 million copies to become 2023’s best-selling game, its follow-up title Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions underperformed.
During the last earning call, David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, has stated that the company plans to scale back the number of games it makes, focusing on just a few key franchises going forward. However, according to Bloomberg’s sources, even promising projects like Rocksteady’s return to Batman are “years away from landing.”
As of now, Warner Bros. has yet to issue an official comment on these reported closures.