Warner Bros. Discovery labeled 2024 as “a disappointing year” for its gaming division, noting a 53% decrease in revenue from 2023. Despite this setback, the company expressed optimism for 2025, attributing its hopes to a restructuring of its gaming strategy that emphasizes successful franchises.

The restructuring led to the closures of several game studios, including WB San Diego and Monolith Productions, alongside the cancellation of the much-anticipated Wonder Woman game, which was announced in 2021. This followed the underwhelming performance of games like Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and Multiversus, both of which incurred significant financial losses.

Warner aims to focus future endeavors on four key franchises—Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Mortal Kombat, and notable DC characters like Batman—each having generated over $1 billion in revenue.

In a recent shareholder letter, Warner emphasized that its vision for gaming is as a “strategic differentiator”, suggesting a shift from viewing it merely as entertainment to actively leveraging it as a platform for their intellectual properties.

“Just two years ago, our Games team broke through with Hogwarts Legacy and created a completely new gaming franchise that was the best-selling game of the year. That gives us confidence that with our re-focused strategy we can get back to producing high-quality games built for long-term consumer engagement, which we expect to propel our Games division back to profit in 2025,” they stated.

Despite a tough history, which included critical missteps under David Haddad—who has recently stepped down from his role—Warner’s renewed focus on key franchises may ultimately guide it towards greater success in the gaming arena.