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Forums - Gaming Discussion - Warner Bros. to double down on live-services after Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League tanks

KManX89 on 07 March 2024

[SOURCE]

Those in charge at Warner Bros. Games are looking to double down on video games in the live-service space despite the underwhelming performance of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. For the most part, WB Games has had a pretty strong past year. This strength was primarily thanks to the massive success of Hogwarts Legacy, which ended up being the highest-selling game for the entirety of 2023. And while one would think that this achievement would prompt WB Games to create more projects in the style of Hogwarts Legacy, it sounds like the opposite is what will be happening.

In a talk during a Morgan Stanley conference this week, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO of games and streaming JB Perrette opened up about the company's strategy with video games moving forward. Perrette said that in the AAA space, in particular, the market has been quite "volatile." He pointed to the massive sales of Hogwarts Legacy and the lackluster sales for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League to prove this point. As a result of said volatility, Perrette said that Warner Bros. wants to take its four biggest franchises (Harry Potter, Mortal Kombat, DC, and Game of Thrones) and try to create products that would exist in the live-service or free-to-play space.

"We think the opportunity for us [...] is to take those four franchises and be able to develop a much more holistic approach, particularly around expanding into the mobile and multiplatform free-to-play space, which could give us a much better and consistent set of revenue. And you'll see us launching later this year some mobile free to play games, which we hope will start building that," Perrette said. "So rather than just launching a kind of one-and-done console game, how do we develop a game around, for example, Hogwarts Legacy or Harry Potter, that is a live service where people can come today and live and work and build and play in that world on an ongoing basis? And so, we think we've got the franchises, we've got some of the greatest studio capabilities, and we have a roadmap and a strategic investment plan to try and build out that business, and we think there's meaningful growth over the course of the next couple of years."

Lol, these guys are completely fucking braindead. Not only do they learn nothing from Marvel’s Avengers and the assload of other single-player live-services flopping, they learn nothing from their own live-service fuck-ups.

Let’s not try to replicate Hogwarts Legacy, the bestselling game of last year, that would make too much sense for these numbskulls.

I remind you that this is the same studio that actually thought it was a good idea to spoil the Godzilla vs. Kong winner in just the second trailer, wanted to keep Ezra Miller as the Flash in Gunn’s DCU, refused to call Cameron Monaghan’s character Joker by name in Gotham because “it would confuse audiences” while having multiple Batmen running across their various DC shows and other nonsense. And I’m not even scratching the surface of all their boneheaded decisions.

Can’t fix stupid.



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KLXVER on 07 March 2024

Just suits chasing Fortnite money. It happens. They will learn eventually.



KManX89 on 07 March 2024
KLXVER said:

Just suits chasing Fortnite money. It happens. They will learn eventually.

There’s a reason games like Anthem, Marvel’s Avengers, Evolve, Babylon’s Fall, Fallout 76 and Suicide Squad: KtJL aren’t pulling in Fortnite numbers (not even close, lol): single-player IPs don’t work as live-services.

Hell, it’s not even pulling in the peak numbers of Marvel’s Avengers which also flopped or the old Arkham games:

It flopped so bad, people actually went back and started playing the good Arkhamverse games. Hell, more people are playing Arkham Asylum, a 15-year-old-game right now than are playing KtJL, a game which just came out, that’s just sad.



Leynos on 07 March 2024

All GaaS shit needs to fail



Bite my shiny metal cockpit!

NobleTeam360 on 07 March 2024

So... they learned nothing after the failure of Suicide Squad and the massive hit that was Hogwarts Legacy? I don't know what to say tbh, I guess at this rate WB games might not be around much longer.



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curl-6 on 07 March 2024

"Hey guys, our offline single player game with no microtransactions or other bullshit was the highest selling game of 2023, and our attempt at chasing the GaaS train was a universally derided failure, what should we do next?"

"I know, let's double down on GaaS trash instead of single player games with no bullshit!"



S.Peelman on 08 March 2024

Yep that’s pretty dumb.



Mar1217 on 08 March 2024

Not only does it sound like these suits have basically no clue, but it's most likely that do not actually understand the current market dynamics if they are to think that mobile gaming isn't a more volatile market, then they're in for another ruuude awakening haha



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Chrkeller on 08 March 2024

I would buy hogwarts 2 at full price. I'm not buying live services.



160rmf on 08 March 2024

Translation: We don't want to put effort for a proportional return. We will keep digging ourselves hoping for easy money to come



 

 

We reap what we sow