During a recent Morgan Stanley speaking event, the head of Warner Bros. Discovery’s gaming J.B. Perrette discussed the strategy for the company moving forward. This strategy focused on live service, free-to-play, and mobile titles.
He stated:
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.
He addressed WBD’s recent output of gaming, which has focused on AAA console and PC titles. In particular, he looked to the success of Hogwarts Legacy which sold a whopping 22 million units and became the best-selling game of 2023, which is great, but as he pointed out this success is never guaranteed in what he referred to as a “Volatile” Market. Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League, the company’s latest foray into the market has so far failed to meet expectations, something WB has not been quiet about.
To combat this, the plan he put forward is to focus on the company’s core franchises and bring them into the free-to-play and mobile markets. This is in addition to doubling down on live-service titles that are already successful and making money, over a longer period. This plan is to help WB maintain a more consistent revenue, assumable to financially aid the company in other avenues, with AAA games assumably remaining as part of WB’s strategy, just not the focus. In this speech, Perette teased a few new mobile games planned for announcement and release this year.
He went on to additionally state:
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?
Perrette noted that the company was in a unique position to take advantage of this market, given popular brands like Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, and DC that they have access to. WB also has 11 internal studios that can develop these games. He also teased that somebody was brought on to help with brand management and sustainability of future projects.
If WBD can execute on this foundation, he stated that it can lead to “meaningful growth” in the future. He did make a point that, in a world with lengthy development cycles, this plan is meant to lead to profitability in 2025, 2026, or maybe 2027, and not immediate success.
On a personal note, I get why many might be skeptical about this approach to development and the nostalgia for a world with “complete” games, but given the ballooning costs of development and the recent rate of lay-offs, it is hard not to see why companies want consistently profitable projects. However, as the recent success of Helldivers 2 should make clear, the game needs to come first which is something far too many of these projects forget.
If you would like to keep up to date on PixelByte make sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook where we post regularly. This helps us grow so we greatly appreciate it!
