Warner Bros Games: Big Live Service, mobile push & moving away from volatile AAA games. Game of Thrones IP & More. Hogwarts sold over 24 Million.

[John Elden Ring]

During a recent Morgan Stanley speaking event, Warner Bros. Discovery gaming boss J.B. Perrette discussed some of the company's strategy for gaming going forward, and it includes more live-service, mobile, and free-to-play games.

He said, "We're doubling down on games as an area where we think there is a lot more growth opportunity that we can tap into with the IP that we have and some of the capabilities we have on the studio where we're uniquely positioned as both a publisher and a developer of games."

Perrette said WBD's recent gaming output has focused on AAA games for console, and that's great when a game like Hogwarts Legacy sells 22 million copies and becomes the best-selling game of the year, but this kind of success is never guaranteed in what Perrette said was a "volatile" market. He pointed out that one of WBD's next big games, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, was a disappointment for the company.

So the plan going forward, he said, was to help reduce volatility by focusing on core franchises and bringing at least some of them to the mobile and free-to-play space, as well as continuing to invest in live-service games that people play--and spend money on--over a long period of time. This will help WBD generate more consistent revenue, he said, going on to tease that WBD had some new mobile free-to-play games coming this year.

"Rather than just launching a one-and-done console game, how do we develop a game around, for example, a Hogwarts Legacy or Harry Potter, that is a live-service where people can live and work and build and play in that world in an ongoing basis?" he said.

Perrette went on to say that WBD is uniquely positioned because it has popular brands--he singled out Mortal Kombat, Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, and DC as its biggest--as well as 11 different internal game development studios. He also teased that WBD has a "strategic investment plan" to help make future games more successful, adding that the company just recently brought someone on to help with brand management and sustainability.

If WBD can execute, Perrette said he expects gaming to bring "meaningful growth" to the company in the years to come. But making games takes time, so Perrette cautioned that the company is laying the foundation now for returns that could come in 2025, 2026, and 2027.

Perrette went on to say how he has no idea how the gaming landscape will evolve over time, but he believes owning the IP and studios could help WBD succeed where others might not. He also called out things like virtual reality and "virtual worlds" as places that will "increase in scale and adoption" in the future.

Some of WBD's upcoming video games include a Harry Potter Quidditch game and a Wonder Woman title from the makers of Shadow of Mordor.

WBD's approach to gaming is very different to Disney's. The company, years ago, developed and published games in-house, but now licenses its franchises to other companies. For example, Disney just paid Epic $1.5 billion to bring its franchises to Fortnite.

Disney is also working with a variety of companies, including EA, Ubisoft, Zynga, and Quantic Dream on Star Wars games, and has a deal with Microsoft/Bethesda for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and Blade.

via Gamespot

 

[Bryank75]

Ha, right... what a misguided load of nonsense.

Money, money, money.

AAA isn't volatile, they just made a shit game (SS: KTJL)

 

[Yurinka]

Ha, right... what a misguided load of nonsense.

Money, money, money.

AAA isn't volatile, they just made a shit game (SS: KTJL)

Yup. It didn't tank for being AAA, MP or GaaS. There are many other AAA, MP or GaaS titles released that are very successful (see the recent Palworld or Helldivers 2 cases). Or in the case of SP non GaaS AAA titles, Howgarts Legacy or the Sony and Capcom games.

Suicide Squad did tank because it wasn't good enough compared to its competition. Players prefered other games.

I think it's understandable that seeing mobile and F2P GaaS making more money than the SP AAA titles, they want a larger porttion of that pie. But they'll have the same issue there: there's a fierce competition there too and if they don't offer somehing good enough to these players they'll tank too.

 

[FatKaz]

Arkham games were not volatile at all.

I can't remember what origins did.

But all the other ones made by the main studio rocksteady did very well commercially and critically.

But these clowns decided they would do gotham knights and suicide squad.

 

[peter42O]

No surprise here. This has been known for years. When you see WB Montreal and Rocksteady go with live service games, kinda tells you everything you need to know.

 

[Bryank75]

They said this same thing few months ago.

I love how Helldivers took a big dump on their shitty game... it's like they are sulking now, going home with their ball. All cause they didn't make all the money they envisioned making from the magic live service formula.

 

[Zzero]

No surprise here. This has been known for years. When you see WB Montreal and Rocksteady go with live service games, kinda tells you everything you need to know.

This is actually relatively new (post-merger.) Before the merger they were trying to get out of games altogether and actually sold their billion dollar mobile games business to EA. With their current debt issues I doubt that they hate the 1.4 billion in cash that they got from it but who knows, maybe they'd want a do-over.

 

[JAHGamer]

these are the braindead execs that @flaccidsnake and @Yurinka think are smarter than us

 

[peter42O]

This is actually relatively new (post-merger.) Before the merger they were trying to get out of games altogether and actually sold their billion dollar mobile games business to EA. With their current debt issues I doubt that they hate the 1.4 billion in cash that they got from it but who knows, maybe they'd want a do-over.

Back in 2020 when they revealed Gotham and Squad and described what they were going to be, the writing was on the wall. Every publisher is looking for their Fortnite money and they won't stop until they get one of two of them.

Oddly enough, I actually think Hogwarts Legacy 2 could be a massive live service game. Keep it PvE unless there's a separate PvP mode but add new areas, quests, mini-games, etc. every month and it's probably one game that would do amazingly well due to the license. Quality would have to equal the first game which was great and im not a Harry Potter fan at all but I bought the game digitally due to thinking that they would add expansions and other stuff to the game because the license is massive.

We'll see how it all turns out for Discovery.

 

[Gamernyc78]

I love how Helldivers took a big dump on their shitty game... it's like they are sulking now, going home with their ball. All cause they didn't make all the money they envisioned making from the magic live service formula.

And look at Hogwarts! It's, not live service but damn does it have long legs and is making bank for them.

 

[Yurinka]

these are the braindead execs that @flaccidsnake and @Yurinka think are smarter than us

I don't think they should be smarter, I just think that unlike you they have a lot of market and game data to make informed decisions knowing what they are talking about.

And look at Hogwarts! It's, not live service but damn does it have long legs and is making bank for them.

He didn't say that they will stop making SP AAA games, he recently said that they will continue betting on that after obviously being very happy with it.

What he said today is that -obviously- such level of huge success isn't something they can't expect to replicate with every game and they can't predict the long term future of gaming, so they plan to focus more on areas where they have more growth opportunity.

Meaning, the areas where there are more players, more revenue and more revenue growth but where they still aren't a big player: mobile, GaaS and particularly F2P.

 

[JAHGamer]

I don't think they should be smarter, I just think that unlike you they have a lot of market and game data to make informed decisions knowing what they are talking about.


He didn't say that they will stop making SP AAA games, he recently said that they will continue betting on that after obviously being very happy with it.

What he said today is that -obviously- such level of huge success isn't something they can't expect to replicate with every game and they can't predict the long term future of gaming, so they plan to focus more on areas where they have more growth opportunity.

Meaning, the areas where there are more players, more revenue and more revenue growth but where they still aren't a big player: mobile, GaaS and particularly F2P.

no, they're simply retarded

 

[flaccidsnake]

these are the braindead execs that @flaccidsnake and @Yurinka think are smarter than us

if you were smarter than them, you'd be calling for a FEAR reboot. instead you have no ideas and insult great business leaders from a storage container. sad!

 

[JAHGamer]

if you were smarter than them, you'd be calling for a FEAR reboot. instead you have no ideas and insult great business leaders from a storage container. sad!

you can do better than that

 

[Gamernyc78]

I don't think they should be smarter, I just think that unlike you they have a lot of market and game data to make informed decisions knowing what they are talking about.


He didn't say that they will stop making SP AAA games, he recently said that they will continue betting on that after obviously being very happy with it.

What he said today is that -obviously- such level of huge success isn't something they can't expect to replicate with every game and they can't predict the long term future of gaming, so they plan to focus more on areas where they have more growth opportunity.

Meaning, the areas where there are more players, more revenue and more revenue growth but where they still aren't a big player: mobile, GaaS and particularly F2P.

I understood tht completely lol Yurinka ppl can read. He is not saying much of anything we haven't heard regurgitated a billion times. One template does not fit all or equate to a syccess. We have tons of games that point to tht from diff genres.

 

[JAHGamer]

I understood tht completely lol Yurinka ppl can read. He is not saying much of anything we haven't heard regurgitated a billion times. One template does not fit all or equate to a syccess. We have tons of games that point to tht from diff genres.

Yurink thinks these stupid CEOs are geniuses that are always right and all gamers are stupid

 

[Gamernyc78]

Yurink thinks these stupid CEOs are geniuses that are always right and all gamers are stupid

Sometimes I think he thinks we are not all enthusiasts that understand basic exec speak and bullshit, to more complex dialog. I think most of us on here have been following gaming for years so I give ppl the benefit of the doubt with these topics lol

 

[Nhomnhom]

Hilarious if they end up concluding that the reason Suicide Squad failed so miserably was because it's a AAA. The guys always end up seeing whatever it is that they want to see. They love the idea of a successful GaaS above anything else.

Harry Potter is also a AAA games, good luck for these morons on the mobile and GaaS market.

 

[Vertigo]

Hogwarts could turn into an mmo like and even do the gta online thing. I doubt you would have to change much at all about gameplay aside from building co-op bosses etc.

Do it where it works… not like Suicide Squad.

 

[flaccidsnake]

Hilarious if they end up concluding that the reason Suicide Squad failed so miserably was because it's a AAA.

Harry Potter is also a AAA games, good luck for these morons on the mobile and GaaS market.

I was confused by that too. Not only has Suicide Squad been a disaster for the record books, WB has had other major live service / f2p mishaps like Multiversus. Maybe that one will come back strong, but something obviously went wrong.