August 8th 2024.
Have you heard the saying, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results"? Well, it seems like Warner Bros. Games may have missed the memo on that one.
Despite suffering a major loss of $200 million on the release of Suicide Squad, they are not giving up on the live service game model. It's surprising, considering the very public failure of Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League and the 41% drop in sales this year compared to when Hogwarts Legacy was released in 2023.
Many critics have pointed out the flaws in Suicide Squad, from its repetitive missions to its lackluster gameplay. But instead of learning from their mistakes, Warner Bros. CEO JB Perrette is determined to continue with more live service titles. In fact, CEO David Zaslav has even hinted at the possibility of licensing out properties like DC Comics in the future, similar to how Marvel operates.
One of the biggest criticisms of Suicide Squad was the fact that it wasted the talents of Rocksteady Studios, the creators of the successful Batman: Arkham Asylum game series. It seems like the best course of action now would be for Warner Bros. to hand over live service game development to other studios and allow their internal teams, such as Monolith Productions, to focus on what they do best.
Unfortunately, it's more likely that Warner Bros. will push all of their studios towards creating live service games, causing concern for the future of Rocksteady and other developers. On the other hand, Marvel has found success by licensing out their properties to different developers instead of creating games internally. Zaslav has hinted at the possibility of Warner Bros. following suit, but no deals have been made yet.
Zaslav has no background in the gaming industry, yet he seems to be fixated on the live service game trend. This is despite Warner Bros. having no notable success with the concept so far. On the other hand, their biggest success has been the single-player game Hogwarts Legacy, but the executives seem reluctant to acknowledge this.
JB Perrette has stated that they are focusing on the free-to-play market, which makes up half of the $200 billion games business. They believe there is room for growth in this space and it will provide more balance to their games business, which is prone to cyclicality with console releases and their three to four year development cycle.
This seems like a similar approach to what publishers were saying five years ago when games like Fortnite and Apex Legends were taking the world by storm. Live service games were touted as the next big thing, but many companies soon realized how difficult it is to create a long-lasting hit in this genre.
It's still unclear if Sony has learned this lesson, but it's clear that Warner Bros. has not. This could lead to more disappointments in the future. Zaslav was brought in as CEO to help reduce Warner Bros.' debt, which is why there is fear for the future of their first-party studios. In fact, there have been rumors that Warner Bros. is looking to sell off their game business, but even if they do, they will still have control over popular licenses like DC and Harry Potter, potentially forcing other companies to continue creating live service games for them.
It's safe to say that Mrs. Freeze won't be able to bring back players to Suicide Squad. But if you have any thoughts on this topic, feel free to email us, leave a comment, follow us on Twitter, or sign up for our newsletter. And for those who want to submit Inbox letters or Reader's Features, you can do so easily using our Submit Stuff page.
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