Warner Bros. wants to transform franchises like Superman into 'always on' live-service style games—which is somehow different from what its been trying for years
Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav has set out the company's plans for the future, and, surprise surprise, there's yet more live service stuff on the horizon.
The company's latest ambitions were revealed in an earnings call yesterday (thanks, Eurogamer). Zaslav states: «We recognize that we can do a better job of managing and maximizing the value of our blue chip franchises like Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, and Superman.»
He then goes on to say that the company's «focus is on transforming our biggest franchises from largely console and PC based with three-four year release schedules to [including] more always on gameplay through live services, multiplatform and free-to-play extensions.» The goal? «More players spending more time on more platforms.»
Earlier in the call, Zaslav celebrates games like Hogwarts Legacy: «Our Harry Potter fans have immersed themselves in Hogwarts legacy, playing more than 700 million hours to date. That engagement helps not only our games business, but also helps build and revitalise the entire Harry Potter franchise and we know our fans want even more.» Confusingly that game's a self-contained RPG and not very live service at all, despite its Destiny 2-style equipment screen.
For obvious reasons, Zaslav didn't mention the weirdly on-hiatus MultiVersus, which I'm still scratching my head about, nor the tepid reactions to Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League in February. PC Gamer's Robin Valentine described taping superheroes onto the live service treadmill as a «fundamentally awful combination», and I'm inclined to agree with him. A similar approach with Gotham Knights led largely to disaster.
So far, the live service elements jammed into these games feel more like afterthoughts. Suicide Squad
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