Warner Bros. Says It Will Transform Its Biggest Franchises Into Live Service Games
Warner Bros. will be heavily veering into a live service model for its future games. During its latest Q3 earnings call, CEO David Zaslav confirmed that the company plans to transform its biggest video game franchises into long-term products, bolstered by regular content drops and heavy monetisation. In recent years, gamers have developed a distaste for such money-hungry practices, which often lock out content behind some form of paywall or a battle pass, instead of providing a complete game at launch. The idea is for players to keep playing WB-published games for months, instead of having AAA developers put out a new game every three to four years — which is the general cycle.
“Ultimately we want to drive engagement and monetization of longer cycles and at higher levels,” Zaslav said during the call. “We are currently under scale and see significant opportunity to generate greater post-purchase revenue.” It's an ironic statement considering the backlash Rocksteady Studios received when it debuted the gameplay trailer for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, following which the game was delayed. While the studio claimed that it needed more time to ensure polish at launch, several reports suggested that it was being pushed into next year due to the inclusion of live-service elements. The developer was known for creating standalone, single-player Batman experiences through its Arkham series of games, but its latest title took a complete detour indicating heavy grinding for loot and gear, alongside purchasable cosmetic items.
What's worse is that while the entire main cast of the Suicide Squad game — Captain Boomerang, Deadshot, Harley Quinn, and King Shark — have unique abilities, by default, they are all armed with
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