With a disappointing number of players unlocking the Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League achievements and the game failing to meet Warner Bros. expectations, it would be logical to assume the company would pivot away from the live service model. Well, that’s not going to be the case, and you can likely expect more Warner Bros live service games going forward.Warner Bros. to increase focus on live service and free-to-play gamesDuring a recent Morgan Stanely event (via VGC), Warner Bros. Discovery CEO and president of streaming and game J.B. Perrette called the AAA gaming business “volatile” while acknowledging the roaring success of Hogwarts Legacy and the “disappointment” of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.”The challenge we’ve had is that our business historically there has been very triple-A console-based, and so, as you know, 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 also have disappointments — we just released Suicide Squad this quarter which was not as strong – it just makes it very volatile.”Perrette goes on to say that the “majority” of WB’s business revolves around four main IP — Mortal Kombat, Game of Thrones, DC, and Harry Potter — and hopes that expanding into the “mobile and multiplatform free-to-play space” will give the company a “much better and consistent set of revenue.” He also noted that we’ll start seeing some new mobile free-to-play games from Warner Bros. later this year. On top of free-to-play games and mobile titles, Perrette also spoke about live service titles before giving an example of a live service Hogwarts Legacy or Harry Potter game. “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?”Hogwarts Legacy is considered one of the best Xbox open world games, largely down to its immersive and atmospheric setting. If Warner Bros were to tack on some weird, distracting live service elements into a Hogwarts Legacy sequel, it could easily ruin the magic found with the first game.
Source link
