Warner Bros. closed down three studios today: Monolith Productions, Player First Games, and WB San Diego. With Monolith closing, WB also cancelled the in-development Wonder Woman game, which was announced in December 2021 without any substantial update since. “Our hope was to give players and fans the highest quality experience possible for the iconic character, and unfortunately this is no longer possible within our strategic priorities,” a WB Games spokesperson commented in a statement (via Variety). Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier first broke the news of the studio shutdowns today after reporting on the turmoil at WB Games earlier this month.
BREAKING: Warner Bros. Games is shutting down Monolith Productions, Player First Games, and WB San Diego, sources tell Bloomberg News. Warner Bros. is also canceling the Wonder Woman game.
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier.bsky.social) 2025-02-25T18:57:33.283Z
Monolith is best known for Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and its sequel Shadow of War. They featured the patened Nemesis System, a procedurally generated and immersive way of creating stories and rivalries with enemies throughout the course of a playthrough. Orcs you defeated could show up later, scarred and out for revenge, while Orcs who killed you could later comment their surprise at seeing you in battle once more. It was a novel concept at the time, and now one must has to wonder if Warner Bros. will do anything further with it.
Player First Games was the studio behind the Smash Bros.-like MultiVersus, which is being delisted and will no longer be playable online past May 30, 2025 (though its offline functionality will remain). MultiVersus was the Ready Player One of video games, pitting DC heroes, Game of Thrones characters, Looney Tunes icons, and more against each other. MultiVersus suffered from a disastrous launch, with features somehow missing from its early access release, and lasted eight months before WB decided to pull the plug on it. Warner Bros. Games San Diego formed in 2019 to primarily focus on mobile free-to-play titles.
“As difficult as today is, we remain focused on and excited about getting back to producing high-quality games for our passionate fans and developed by our world class studios and getting our Games business back to profitability and growth in 2025 and beyond,” the WB Games statement read.
Warner Bros.’ gaming division has had a rough stretch the past few years, with the notable failure of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League being a giant stain on its ledger. A lot is going to ride on Rocksteady’s in-development Batman game — if it ever sees the light of day.
