WB is looking to license it’s IP to other game studios after massive Suicide Squad flop.
WB Games once were kings of the industry. By making stellar games like Batman Arkham Asylum, FEAR, and Shadow of Mordor, they were looked at as some of the best developers in the industry. People loved these games, and with proper marketing they were able to produce big successful franchises. But what happens when the industry gets greedy and wants more money?
Suicide Squad was the result of a shift in focus towards “Free-to-play” and “live service games.” This shift led to game developers, who were initially focused on creating story-driven games, being forced to adapt to this new direction. Unfortunately, this approach still has not produced positive results. Instead of analyzing the reasons behind this failures and considering alternative strategies, WB persisted.
WB’s president of global streaming and games, JB Perrette, even mentioned that the gaming divisions would have had a “record breaking year” in profit if they didn’t release their live service games. The single-player offline games that brought them success were killed by the studios push to find a live service game that printed money.
Following the failure of another live service game, WB is considering a change of strategy. They are now exploring the option of licensing out their intellectual property (IP) to external studios. This move aims to expand their reach beyond their immediate circle and potentially partner with a studio capable of developing a successful and profitable game based on their IP.
“There’s also a lot of interest among others in coming to take advantage of some of that IP for gaming, which we’re looking at,” Zaslav said. “We need to get bigger, and the IP that we own and the value that it has in the gaming space is something we’re looking to take advantage of.”
This report came just after WB noted they were potentially looking for investors to take pieces of their WB Games branch, in hopes of not breaking up the studios. This rumor turned up once before, but without the IP behind the studios there is arguably not much value for another big publisher, sadly.
WB also hasn’t been so inclined to keep their IP within their own studio ever since merging with Discovery. A majority of recent projects found new homes, instead of being outright canceled. Streaming shows went to new platforms, and movies found new distribution. And yet other projects were sadly outright canceled.
The move would also follow along the lines of what Disney currently does with Marvel and Star Wars. However, it raises questions about whether Warner Bros. will approach their own properties with the same level of care and respect. Disney’s stringent guidelines for game development have set a high standard, followed by strict rules in using their properties to keep a cohesive universe together. Would WB be inclined to put the same level of care in their own IP?
It’s clear listening to the market isn’t in their forte when they are finding success in areas they don’t want to be in, and they continue to ignore that success they did find, so perhaps even giving this responsibility up is an option too. Perhaps another studio will do a better job with the IP, but have someone that will respect the entire picture and keep things in order. Perhaps this is where WB Games can shift their focus, and maybe itll allow them to keep making the story driven games while another studio brings in money with live service.
There’s many questions to ask here, but what is interesting is where we go from here. Maybe we finally get that Superman game we’ve been begging forever to play?
