"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?"
— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) March 5, 2024
Live, work and build before play
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.
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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 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.
Lol. Zaslav and his team are going to burn this company to the ground.
How...Does that even happen, you make a massively successful single-player game in 2023, the best selling game of the year, it's a one and done title, then you release a live-service title, it horrifically bombs, and your takeaway is that the one and done single player titles suck and you need more live-service titles.
When a company points out that they believe making the best-selling premium game of the year did not provide enough return to not pivot the franchise that game was based on to f2p/live service... well that's a problem.
— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) March 5, 2024
