What many predicted would happen following the announcement of MultiVersus’ closure and the $200 million flop that was Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has unfortunately come to pass, as Warner Bros. Games has confirmed its plans to shut down Player First Games, WB Games San Diego, and Monolith Productions, along with the latter’s open-world action game Wonder Woman, announced in 2021.
Initially revealed by Bloomberg, Warner Bros.’ new strategy comes as a consequence of a series of game releases that underperformed financially and, in the words of Warner Bros. Discovery Global Streaming and Games President and CEO Jean-Briac Perrette, “missed the mark.” Moving forward, the company plans to refocus the efforts of its gaming division on its biggest IPs, including “Harry Potter, Mortal Kombat, Game of Thrones, and DC Comics, primarily Batman” – the last one feeling particularly odd given the cancellation of the Wonder Woman game, despite her being a DC character.
Following the initial report, WB Games responded with an official statement shared with news outlets, confirming the upcoming disbanding of three studios and specifically addressing Monolith – the creator of the Middle-earth series, F.E.A.R., and the Nemesis System – which many believe was the least deserving of shutdown among the three and certainly less so than Rocksteady, whose disastrous SSKTJL some view as the main reason for implementing the new strategy in the first place.
“The development of Monolith’s Wonder Woman videogame will not move forward,” the statement says. “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.”
While it’s currently difficult to assess just how devastating the studio closures were for their developers, it can be confirmed that at least some of the employees were let go, including Senior Advanced Technical Artist Caitlyn Trout, Lead World Designer Jason Rost, Design Director UX Mila Pavlin, Advanced Technical Artist Matt Rapelje, Level Designer Grant Ervin, and Senior Game Programmer Erik Rounds, among others.
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