WB shutters 3 studios and a highly anticipated game

Warner Brothers closed three more studios and canceled one of their most anticipated games. Find out the details, plus the latest news from Pokémon day and the world of gaming. Let’s go! 

Warner Brothers’ disastrous year of gaming continues

Warner Brothers game division is making some big cuts, including Monolith Productions, Player First Games, and WB San Diego. The company is also canceling their in-production Wonder Woman game. The news was first reported by Jason Schreier at Bloomberg. 

The publisher’s troubles started last year with the release of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. According to Variety, over the course of the year Warner Brothers Discovery wrote down (lost) over $300 million. 

In an email to Kotaku, Warner Brothers explained their reasoning:

We have had to make some very difficult decisions to structure our development studios and investments around building the best games possible with our key franchises -– Harry Potter, Mortal Kombat, DC and Game of Thrones. After careful consideration, we are closing three of our development studios – Monolith Productions, Player First Games and Warner Bros. Games San Diego. This is a strategic change in direction and not a reflection of these teams or the talent that consists within them.

The development of Monolith’s Wonder Woman video game will not move forward. 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. As difficult as today is, we remain focused on and excited about getting back to producing high-quality games for our passionate fans and developed by our world class studios and getting our Games business back to profitability and growth in 2025 and beyond.

The biggest of the studio closures was Monolith, best known for Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and its Nemesis System. The Nemesis System was groundbreaking at the time, as enemies who you fought would “remember” your character. The system was to be used in the Wonder Woman game, but reports say Monolith was struggling to implement it within the game. 

Kinda Funny interviewed Schreier and discussed all the missteps Warner Brothers had recently that led to this point. It is worth a watch.

Other reads:

• Following Monolith’s closing, GOG is accelerating the preservation of their game FEAR to recognise its doomed developer's “contribution to gaming.”
• The cancelled Wonder Woman game was “gorgeous and expansive,” according to a consulting comic writer. 
• WB Games to refocus business around “tentpole franchises.”
• Fans lament the “wasted potential” of the Nemesis System.
• DC Studios co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran have held talks with Warner studios Rocksteady and NetherRealm about new DC video games.
• Aftermath focuses on “another all-time great studio sacrificed at the altar of Line Go Up.”

Pokémon Presents…

The Pokémon company held their annual showcase focusing on their latest products and updates. Here are the highlights:

Pokémon Champions

Pokémon Champions is a new multiplayer game focused on Pokémon battles. Players will be able to import their critters from Pokémon Scarlet or Violet, Pokémon Home and other games to battle players from around the world.

Pokémon Legends: Z-A

The next Pokémon game showed some of the initial creatures and their evolutions. The game is scheduled to release in late 2025 for the Switch. 

Pokémon Concierge

The second season of Pokémon Concierge is coming to Netflix in September 2025. 

Side Quests (more stories worth reading)

📈 Monster Hunter Wilds hit 1.3 million concurrent players on Steam its first weekend, on track to place it fifth all-time in that category. It also grossed over $69 million on the platform in 24 hours. 

🖥️ It’s not all good news for Monster Hunter Wilds, as people reported performance issues with the game on PC. Crashes, low frame rates and polygonal character models caused one player to say “my air fryer is more optimized than this.”

🥽 PlayStation 5’s virtual reality headset is getting a permanent $150 price cut, it now costs $399. 

‼️ Could Half-Life 3 finally be coming, and could it be what Valve needs to push SteamOS? 

⚽ Nintendo removed Super Soccer from the Switch Online retro library, the first game to be removed since its launch. 

🖥️ AMD announced details on their new graphics cards, including specs and pricing. 

🥷🏻 Copies of Assassin’s Creed Shadows are being leaked and streamed online a month before the game’s release date.

🎮 Annapurna announced their 2025 lineup of indie games.

🕸️ Magic: The Gathering announced a new Spider-Man set that is available for pre-order. The company also affirmed its diversity efforts, saying “we’ve wanted to be a game that is representative of all.”

📅 Microsoft has officially delayed the release of the latest Fable game to 2026.

🕹️ Following the success of Silent Hill 2, Bloober Team is working on a new game based on Konami’s IP. 

💾 Electronic Arts open-sourced the code for four of its Command & Conquer games. 

📽️ CD Projekt Red made a 10-minute video about the making of their Witcher 4 reveal trailer. 

🗙 The Guardian looks at the weird afterlife of Xbox Kinect.

New Releases this week:

Check out our article on 12 New Games to Play in March.

3/4: Carmen Sandiego (PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, PC and mobile)
3/4: Two Point Museum (PlayStation, Xbox and PC)
3/6: FragPunk (PlayStation, Xbox and PC)
3/6: Split Fiction (PlayStation, Xbox and PC)
3/6: Suikoden I & II HD Remastered (PlayStation, Xbox, Switch and PC)

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