WB Games narrows focus with 'fewer but bigger' strategy for its franchises

WB Games is shutting down studios and cancelling games restructuring plan. The games lineup has been cut down to reflect a "less is more" approach that underlines WB's powerful IPs.

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Today it was revealed that WB Games shuttered Monolith Productions, WB San Diego, and Player First Games while cancelling a big-budget Wonder Woman game in the process. The goal is simple: WB Discovery is tired of losing money on bad bets. The combined bad performance of Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League and Multiversus led to a $335 million impairment charge for the games division.

The restructuring has also led to big changes in how money is being spent on new projects. In an internal memo acquired by Bloomberg, WB Games management says that teams will now focus on a handful of franchises and IPs, which are predictable: Harry Potter, Mortal Kombat, DC Comics (with an emphasis on Batman), and Game of Thrones.

These are all series that WB Games has had traditional success with...however the more recent Batman Gotham Knights game had missed WB's expectations.

In the memo, Warner Bros. exec JB Perrette reiterated the plan with employees:

"The quality of too many of our new releases has really missed the mark. We need to make some substantial changes to our portfolio/team structure if we are to commit the necessary resources to get back to a 'fewer but bigger franchises' strategy."

Polygon also acquired the same memo, in which Perrette says:

"We need to and will do better for our fans first and foremost, and also because regaining that credibility is critical to us securing even more investment in games in the years to come. Getting our swagger back happens one high quality game release at a time, and our financial credibility gets rebuilt one fiscal quarter at a time--delivering what we said we would deliver, and no big negative surprises."

WB Games has since confirmed the restructuring and has delivered a statement.

Warner Bros. Discovery may comment on the situation during its investors call on February 27.