WB's push for predictable returns carries real risk | This Week in Business
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This Week in Business is our weekly recap column, a collection of stats and quotes from recent stories presented with a dash of opinion (sometimes more than a dash) and intended to shed light on various trends. Check every Friday for a new entry.
Warner Bros Discovery's gaming division had a pretty great year in 2023, thanks in large part to the success of Hogwarts Legacy, which was the first non-Call of Duty, non-Rockstar-developed game to finish the year atop the Circana/NPD Group's best-sellers list since Rock Band did it in 2008.
Naturally, it wasn't enough. It never is.
Especially now in 2024, when the numbers WB's gaming business is putting up are being compared to the numbers it put up last year when Hogwarts Legacy launched.
QUOTE | "The challenge we've had is our business historically [in games] has been very AAA console based. That's a great business when you have a hit like Harry Potter, it makes the year look amazing. And when you don't have a release or unfortunately we also have disappointments – we just released Suicide Squad this quarter which was not as strong – it just makes it very volatile." – Warner Bros Discovery global streaming and games CEO and president JB Perrette, telling investors this week that the company wants to rely less on AAA console games, and more on mobile and live service titles.
Oh, what a rotten fate it is to have been unusually successful last year. Pity the poor CEO who has to deal with a tough comp!
Realistically though, you can understand why the drop-off for WB from last year to this is larger than expected. On paper, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League should have been a contender based on pedigree alone. After all, it's the first game from acclaimed studio Rocksteady in eight years, going back to 2016's Batman: Arkham VR. That short novelty aside, the last big game from Rocksteady was 2015's Batman: Arkham Knight.
It's also Rocksteady's
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