Warner Bros. Interactive president David Haddad is stepping down after 12 years of leading the Warner Bros. Games division.
The decision comes just during a markedly tumultuous period for Warner Bros. Games, which followed up Hogwarts Legacy's prolific sales in 2023 with 2024 live service shooter Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League's disastrous existence. That game bled $200 million, and, two weeks ago, developer Rocksteady was reportedly hit with layoffs to its programming teams, as well as a deeper cut to its QA crew.
Now, Warner Bros. Global Streaming and Games CEO JB Perrette writes in an internal note obtained by Variety that Haddad "has thoughtfully and purposefully chosen a time when our release schedule is lighter, which will [...] allow this team to smoothly prepare for its next record-breaking title." We know that Warner Bros. is planning a sequel to the RPG Hogwarts Legacy, though it's also explained that it plans to pivot hard into free-to-play, live-service titles like its mobile game Game of Thrones: Conquest.
Perrette continues to say in the internal note that Haddad's "vision, talent and passion have helped build one of the most successful and admired gaming companies in the industry and navigated some of the biggest changes and challenges as well.
"From transitioning a physical software company into a digital-first gaming operation, to organically building a successful free-to-play mobile business, to developing and publishing multiple billion-dollar games and franchises – including Hogwarts Legacy, Game of Thrones Conquest, and Golf Clash – [...] the journey has been nothing short of extraordinary."
Warner Bros. is inexplicably delisting a bunch of games without warning, again, and devs are once again distraught: "We are heartbroken."
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