Warner Bros will focus on mobile and F2P games instead of “unpredictable” AAA games for consoles,Head of the gaming division of Warner Bros. Discovery JB Perrette wants the company to move away from the “volatile” AAA console gaming market.
Speaking at a recent Morgan Stanley event, Perrette said the company will combat volatility by focusing on its biggest franchises and bringing some of them to mobile and free-to-play platforms in addition to service games. The goal is a more stable income.
We’re doubling down on gaming as an area where we think there’s a lot more growth opportunity that we can take advantage of with our IP and some of the capabilities we have in the studio, where we’re uniquely positioned as a publisher and developer games.
Instead of just releasing a one-off console game, how do we develop a game around, say, Hogwarts Legacy or Harry Potter, that is a service where people can live, work, build and play in that world on an ongoing basis?
Head of the gaming division ,Perrett noted that WBD has popular brands it can rely on, such as Mortal Kombat, Game of Thrones, Harry Potter and DC, as well as 11 different in-house game development studios. As such, he expects gaming to bring “significant growth” to the company in the future.
Hogwarts Legacy was last year’s best-selling game, selling 22 million copies, while the recent Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was a big disappointment.
While specific sales figures have not yet been released, the company’s chief financial officer, Gunnar Wiedenfels, said last month that Suicide Squad “did not meet our expectations.”
Together, these two games embody the unpredictability that Perrette talked about.