Warner Bros. Discovery gaming chief JB Perrette wants the company to move away from the “volatile” AAA console games market.
Speaking during a recent Morgan Stanley event (thank you game point), Perrette said the company would combat volatility by focusing on its biggest franchises and bringing some into the mobile and free-to-play space, in addition to live service games. The goal is to obtain more consistent income.
“We are doubling down on gaming as an area where we believe there are many more growth opportunities that we can take advantage of with the intellectual property that we have and some of the capabilities that we have in the studio, where we are in a unique position as both “a game publisher and developer,” he said.
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“Rather than just releasing a single console game, how do we develop a game around, say, Hogwarts Legacy or Harry Potter, that is a live service where people can live, work, build and play in that world continuously?”
Perrette noted that WBD has popular brands to rely on, such as Mortal Kombat, Game of Thrones, Harry Potter and DC, as well as 11 different internal studios for game development. As such, she expects the games to provide the company with “significant growth” in the future.
Your comments are interesting after the company's most recent launches.
Hogwarts Legacy was last year's best-selling game, selling 22 million copies, although its most recent Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has been a huge disappointment.
While specific sales figures have not yet been shared, the company's chief financial officer, Gunnar Wiedenfels, stated last month that Suicide Squad “did not meet our expectations.”
Together, the two games certainly encapsulate that volatility that Perrette described.
Suicide Squad includes the kind of live service elements it would like to develop, although it was these that came under fire from both the media and players upon the game's release.
Its first season of post-launch content will add The Joker later this month.
Perrette's comments also echo those of WBD CEO David Zaslav, who outlined the company's plans to focus on “always-on” live service games in November.
