While Warner Bros has admitted that Suicide Squad Kill The Justice League was a “disappointment,” the company has simultaneously outlined how it wants to focus more on live service and free-to-play games, citing them as key areas of growth for the core IPs that act as a lynchpin of its videogames business.
This comes from WB’s global streaming and games CEO J.B. Perrette, who recently presented at the Morgan Stanley technology conference on Monday, March 4. Here Perrette was asked about WB’s videogame plans going forward, with the immense success of Hogwarts Legacy and the less impactful launch of Suicide Squad Kill The Justice League key points of the discussion.
Perrette mentions how Mortal Komabt, Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, and DC superhero games are Warner Bros’ four major videogame pillars, adding that “the challenge we’ve had is our business, historically there, has been very triple-A console based.
“That’s a great business when you have a hit like Harry Potter, it makes the year look amazing, and then when you don’t have a release or unfortunately we have disappointments – we just released Suicide Squad this quarter which was not as strong – it just makes it very awful.”
Perette then adds that WB wants to take the four aforementioned IPs into the mobile and multiplatform free-to-play space to get more consistent revenue, because Hogwarts Legacy and Suicide Squad have shown them how triple-A can be risky.
“Secondarily [we want to launch more] live services, rather than just launching a 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 in and live, and work, and build, and play in that world on an ongoing basis.”
Perrette explains (via a GameSpot article) that WB has a roadmap and strategic plan to build out that type of business, citing “meaningful growth” in the next few years.
Warner Bros’ strategy comes as Suicide Squad, the flagship live service game from the company this year, massively underperformed. The game even had fewer players than all four of the Batman Arkham games at one point, and WB is acutely aware that the launch of Suicide Squad wasn’t nearly as successful as it wanted it to be.
This comes as Hogwarts Legacy, a single-player one-and-done game, sold over 22 million copies in less than a year when it launched in 2023 and was one of the best-selling games. What Warner Bros and Perrette are saying at this conference is that despite this success, players not sticking with a game like Hogwarts Legacy means it just isn’t sustainable enough.
If you’re darting around Metropolis ahead of Season 1 we’ve got all the best Suicide Squad builds you need to check out, otherwise, you can play some other multiplayer games.
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