Warner is still talking about Hogwarts Legacy as it commits to basing its future games on 'tentpole franchises that have each generated over $1 billion'

In what one might say is a remarkable example of understatement, Warner Bros. Discovery said in a letter to shareholders that 2024 was "a disappointing year" for its games business, which suffered a 53% decrease in revenue compared to 2023. Despite that big hit, Warner has high hopes for 2025 thanks to its recent restructuring, which it says will enable it to "refocus our resources and capital on proven IP and games from proven, world class studios."

That restructuring, of course, saw the recent closures of WB San Diego, Player First Games, and the legendary Monolith Productions, as well as the cancellation of the Wonder Woman game that was announced in 2021. All of that came in the wake of the spectacular failure of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and the fizzle-out of Multiversus, which was less overtly cataclysmic than Suicide Squad's bomb but still notable because the game had come out so strongly, before Warner decided for reasons unknown to take it offline for nearly a year and rework it. Between them, the two games ended up losing roughly $300 million.

Despite that, Warner continues to see videogames as "a strategic differentiator," which "allows us to tap into one of the fastest growing media segments and the over three billion global gamers." But its focus in the future, as it said when it confirmed the closures of Monolith and the rest, will be on "four tentpole franchises that have each generated over $1 billion in consumer sales in past years: Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Mortal Kombat, and DC—particularly top tier characters like Batman."

"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—a result that only three other franchises in the last 15 years have achieved. 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 and emerge as a more significant contributor to growth in the years ahead."

Warner's been banging this particular drum for a while now, so it's not as though this is some surprise strategic shift that's going to catch the world off guard. But it does frame how the company views videogames more starkly than I think we've seen in the past—not as a medium of expression or entertainment in its own right, but merely a system of support for IP that people like or recognize.

It's an interesting takeaway given the ample evidence that a big name won't carry the day by itself: Hogwarts Legacy was a massive hit, but Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions is going nowhere and Harry Potter: Magic Awakened was closed in October 2024, just over a year after it launched. I can't even think of a Game of Thrones game that's made much of a splash, aside from maybe Telltale's 2015 adventure series. (The next GoT game has a demo on Steam right now, and maybe it'll go somewhere.) People do like superheroes, though, so maybe that'll work out. (Just not, y'know, Wonder Woman.)

What may help Warner's games division more than tentpoles is a recent change at the top: Longtime games chief David Haddad announced in January that he's stepping down from the role. A recent Bloomberg report cited numerous sources who laid the blame for Warner's videogame woes at Haddad's feet, saying his tenure was marked by indecision and a lack of coherent vision.