Warner Bros. Discovery gaming boss J.B. Perrette has said that the company will focus on its biggest franchises moving forward, as well as live service, free-to-play titles, and mobile games.
During a recent Morgan Stanley event (via GameSpot) Perrette shared the company's gaming strategy and explained that it wants to pivot away from "volatile" AAA console games in favor of its biggest achievers.
"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," Perrette said.
"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?"
The gaming boss added that despite the company's focus on outputting AAA games, the success is not guaranteed, pointing out that Warner Bros. Discovery's latest release, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, was a disappointment, as opposed to Hogwarts Legacy, which has gone on to sell over 22 million copies since launching last year.
Perrette said that the company will focus on its core franchises - listing the likes of Mortal Kombat, Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, and DC, as well as 11 different internal studios, as its most popular brands later on - and will invest in live service games that make money over a long period, which should generate more consistent revenue for Warner Bros. Discovery.
He also said the company will be pushing out new mobile free-to-play games this year, but noted that although it wants to focus on this new strategy, it doesn't mean it will stop making single-player AAA games.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League launched on February 2 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam. We gave the game two stars in our review, with Jake Tucker praising the "interesting ideas and excellent writing," but that the supervillain shooter "is intent instead on subjecting players to death via live service nonsense."
For more, be sure to check out our list of every upcoming game of 2024, along with our recommendations for the best superhero games.
