During Warner Bros Discovery’s quarterly earnings call, CEO David Zaslav admitted that the company’s gaming business has been underperforming compared to its more stable film and TV businesses.
Zaslav highlighted that Warner Bros Discovery’s gaming division consists of 4 major franchises; Hogwarts Legacy, Mortal Kombat, Game of Thrones, and DC, particularly Batman. Currently, the company’s strategy is to focus on these 4 franchises to increase the chances of game success.
After the high success of Hogwarts Legacy, the WBD gaming studio suffered a heavy blow with the failure of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Additionally, the multiplayer fighting game MultiVersus, which temporarily shut down for a period, reopened in May 2024 but has not achieved the same success (current player count on Steam is around 1,785 compared to a peak of 150,000). This has resulted in the gaming business recording accounting losses of over $300 million this year.
Source – VGC
TLDR: Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav acknowledges the underperformance of the company’s gaming business compared to its film and TV divisions. The company’s strategy now focuses on key franchises like Hogwarts Legacy, Mortal Kombat, Game of Thrones, and DC to boost game success. Despite initial successes, recent game releases have failed to meet expectations, leading to significant financial losses in the gaming division.
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