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Despite the publisher releasing Hogwarts Legacy last year to great success, Warner Bros. Discovery’s head of gaming says live-services and mobile will be its main focus moving forward.
If you’re into video games, it’s likely you picked up – or at least saw gameplay of – Hogwarts Legacy last year.
Despite some controversy surrounding the title and its association with JK Rowling, it was the best-selling game of 2023 in the US. However, while it enjoyed impressive sales numbers, it seems its publisher Warner Bros. Discovery is looking to pivot into live-service and mobile gaming.
During a speaking event by Morgan Stanley Technology this week, Warner Bros. Discovery’s head of gaming J.B Perette outlined the company’s plans for the future.
He mentioned the poor sales of the publisher’s recent release, Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League, as a motivator for pivoting further into the mobile and live-service spaces – a surprising and arguably contradictory conclusion to have reached.
‘[AAA games] are a great business when you have a hit like Harry Potter, it makes the year look amazing,’ Perette said. ‘We just released Suicide Squad this quarter which was not as strong [and] it just makes it very volatile.’
Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League is a live-service third-person shooter that is primarily designed for online co-op play, though it can be played solo.
> Hogwarts Legacy was the best selling game of 2023
> Suicide Squad has barely 500 players, flopped badlyWarner Bros: “We think we need to focus on live service games more, and less on single player experiences.”
You can’t make this shit up. pic.twitter.com/5xiDpP8YpU
— Words | Persona 3 Reload (@TNEQL) March 5, 2024
It received mixed reviews, with criticism directed toward the title’s repetitive structure and weak end-game content offering. Live-service titles rely on a constant stream of updates and changing levels or gameplay to remain fresh for players. Developed by Rocksteady Studios, a team better known for its single-player Batman: Arkham series, the game is considered to be a flop.
It seems a little strange, then, that Perette was adamant about doubling down on live-service and mobile markets. He said that the company wanted to create free-to-play experiences revolving around its ‘four main forms of IP in games, which are billion-dollar-plus businesses themselves.’
After Suicide Squad failed to meet Warner Bros’ expectations, what does the publisher plan on doing next? Why, make some more live service games of course! https://t.co/zz55u3sZUU #Repost #WarnerBros #PS5 #SuicideSquad #HogwartsLegacy
— Push Square (@pushsquare) March 6, 2024
These include Harry Potter, DC, Mortal Kombat, and Game of Thrones.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s CEO David Zaslav had parroted this sentiment back in November, promising more live-service games this year and beyond. All this is in despite of Suicide Squad’s failure, rather than because of it.
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