Wonder Woman and Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor developer Monolith Productions, MultiVersus developer Player First Games, and mobile-focused studio WB San Diego have all been shut down. The Wonder Woman game has been canceled altogether.
The news first broke via Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier on Bluesky. A more formal report from the outlet is forthcoming. Reached for comment by 12DOVE, Warner Bros. confirmed the news in a statement which was also shared with other journalists.
"We have had to make some very difficult decisions to structure our development studios and investments around building the best games possible with our key franchises - Harry Potter, Mortal Kombat, DC and Game of Thrones," WB says in its statement. "After careful consideration, we are closing three of our development studios - Monolith Productions, Player First Games and Warner Bros. Games San Diego. This is a strategic change in direction and not a reflection of these teams or the talent that consists within them. The development of Monolith's Wonder Woman videogame will not move forward."
- Suicide Squad's $200 million failure was so damaging, it reportedly contributed to the cancellation of Monolith's Wonder Woman game
- Even as costs spiralled to $100m, founder of shuttered Wonder Woman studio says "I don't think I ever really considered the possibility that it would shut down one day"
Warner Bros. previously noted its intentions to focus on Harry Potter, Mortal Kombat, DC and Game of Thrones in a financial report last year. Today's statement doesn't acknowledge the irony of doubling down on DC games while canceling a Wonder Woman title.
The end of Player First Games is perhaps sadly unsurprising, as its big project MultiVersus is officially shutting down later this year after a big relaunch that failed to get much traction outside of the game's dedicated playerbase. MultiVersus originally launched in July 2022 as a Super Smash Bros.-style platform fighting game featuring characters from a wide array of Warner Bros. properties.
The end of Monolith Productions comes three years after the reveal of its big open-world Wonder Woman game, which we've seen very little of since its announcement. Another Bloomberg report earlier this month suggested that the game was $100 million in the hole and struggling with tech and leadership.
Monolith was founded in 1994, and produced numerous cult classics like Blood, No One Lives Forever, FEAR, and Condemned: Criminal Origins over the years. The company was acquired by WB in 2004, and prior to the Wonder Woman game, had met with critical and commercial success with Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War.
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