Warner Bros. Games opens new studio for F2P mobile games

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment opens a new studio in San Diego that'll focus exclusively on free-to-play mobile games.

On the heels of its strong monetization in games like MK11 and Shadow of War, WB is eager to tap the billion dollar free-to-play mobile market. It's a bustling segment that made 80% of 2018's total yearly revenues (per SuperData). Everyone wants a piece of that $87 billion dollar pie, including WB.

WB Games already has some big mobile successes including the Game of Thrones: Conquest title and Harry Potter Wizards Unite. The idea here is to get steady recurring revenues from mobile games to help big-budget projects like the new rumored live service Justice League game from Rocksteady, WB Games Montreal's new project (maybe Batman Court of Owls), and the upcoming Harry Potter RPG from Avalanche.

"This new studio is a testament to our continued evolution in the mobile games space, as we have grown to become one of the top grossing mobile games publishers due to the tremendous success of our portfolio, including Game of Thrones: Conquest and Golf Clash," WBIE president David Haddad told Fortune.

Maybe this way we'll see more of a separate from F2P-style microtransactions in WB's AAA games?

We should see a batch of new mobile games in IPs like Lord of the Rings, DC Comics, and Mortal Kombat, all stemming from WB Games San Diego.