WB Games begins recovery process post-exec departure, Suicide Squad and MultiVersus shutdownsWB Games begins recovery process post-exec departure, Suicide Squad and MultiVersus shutdowns

Warner Bros. Discovery's (WBD) games division has had a tough time, and that will persist for another few years. A new Bloomberg report reveals the company has "major gaps" in its slate after division head David Haddad's exit in January, and the joint failures of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and MultiVersus.

Two dozen current and former developers speaking to Bloomberg claim the company was done in by a lack of direction during Haddad's tenure, which led to "years of ineffectual trend-chasing and wasted development time." His lack of games experience showed as studios reportedly spent months seeking his approval on various matters, from their next game project to whether or not they would appear at a trade event like E3.

Staff at WB Games Montreal and Monolith Productions expanded on those thoughts, telling Bloomberg they felt "stuck in limbo" while waiting for Haddad and his team to provide answers. Former WB Montreal head Martin Carrier acknowledged games "lost a little focus" as "a lot was going on politically" within WBD.

JB Perrette, WB's games and streaming head, told Bloomberg the company would get "right back" to profitability as it looks for Haddad's successor. But the desired profitability will take "two to three years" of rebuilding.

The path ahead for WB Games

Bloomberg's report gives a timeline of how various WB Games studios have been impacted by executive decisions.

For Monolith, its Wonder Woman game quietly underwent a soft reboot in early 2024 that's seen it converted from a game built around the Nemesis system (from the studio's own Shadow of Mordor) into a more conventional action-adventure title. The project was birthed after WB executives canceled an earlier project Monolith was making for over three years and several key staff—including studio head Kevin Stephens—left to start EA's Cliffhanger Games.

WB Games Montreal was conscripted to make a live-service Batman game after Haddad first joined in 2016. That project eventually turned into Gotham Knights, which the team hoped could be redeemed with a "1.5 version." That idea was rejected, and after failed pitches based on DC heroes Constantine and the Flash, WB Montreal was assigned as a support developer on Rocksteady's Suicide Squad. It recently laid off nearly 100 developers shortly before that game's end, and is now helping with Wonder Woman and pitching a game project based on Game of Thrones.

As for Rocksteady, its history with Suicide Squad and that game's troubled development has been previously documented. According to Bloomberg, the developer is now at work on another single-player Batman game described as "years away" from release.

Avalanche Software, creators of Hogwarts Legacy, is currently at work on new content for that game and a sequel. However, Bloomberg raises the question of whether a sequel can be as big a success as the original game was in 2023.

Two developers were notably unmentioned in this report: NetherRealm and Player First. The former recently touted that Mortal Kombat 1 sold 5 million copies and indicated it had new content on the horizon. Meanwhile, Player First's future is in question after it ends MultiVersus support in May.

Bloomberg's full report can be read here.