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Warner Bros. Discovery to double down on live-service games

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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.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reQKHNg0jh8

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.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1tO5CyqNGM&t=1s

‘[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.

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.’

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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This news will probably be met with a collective groan from gamers. Live-services, battle passes, and always-online business models have crept into all sorts of titles where they shouldn’t have.

Whether it’s Halo Infinite, Overwatch 2, or Marvel Avengers, amongst others, it seems every developer is hoping to create an infinite revenue stream from a hit live-service game. Executives and shareholders want to catch up to the runaway success of Fortnite.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lN2U3H1mYU4

The problem is that the consumer experience is objectively worse when the decision to move over to a live-service model is made. This system demands more money for cosmetics, strips away base-game levels and assets to artificially populate seasonal content drops, and is a bigger headache for developers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VScoEZ-qyC4

They’re expensive to create and maintain. Most people don’t like them.

It’s interesting to see Warner Bros. Discovery largely ignore its own successes with Hogwarts Legacy, Arkham Knight, and Mortal Kombat, and instead throw resources into markets that are even more competitive and financially risky.

We’ll have to see what’s next for the publisher and Rocksteady. It’ll likely be disappointing news for most, but perhaps Suicide Squad’s uncertain future can help the company consider otherwise in the coming years.

Editor In Chief London, UK

I’m Charlie (He/Him), the Editor In Chief at Thred. I studied English at the University of Birmingham and as a music and gaming enthusiast, I’m a nerd for pop culture. You can find me curating playlists, designing article headline images, and sipping cider on a Thursday. Follow me on Twitter, LinkedIn and drop me some ideas/feedback via email.

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