Warner Bros. Discovery is shutting down three of its internal gaming studios—Monolith Productions, Player First Games and Warner Bros. San Diego—as part of a new effort to restructure its gaming business.

A statement released by the Warner Bros. Games division yesterday added that this decision is a strategic change in direction designed to trim the number of active developers under the company’s gaming umbrella and refocus its investments on building new games for key franchise brands such as Harry Potter, Mortal Kombat, DC and Game of Thrones. 

WB Games has not revealed how many staffers are affected by the closures, or if it will offer any of them new jobs at its remaining studios, which include TT Games, Rocksteady Studios, NetherRealm Studios, WB Games Montreal and Avalanche Software. LinkedIn’s platform estimates that Monolith employed between 200 to 500 people, with WB San Diego at around 200 and the smaller-scale Player First at 50. 

WB Games has also canceled the development of Monolith’s untitled Wonder Woman action game that was first revealed in 2021. American comic book writer Gail Simone confirmed on X yesterday that she was hired as a long-time consultant on the title, and described it as a “showpiece epic” for fans of the character. She added that it was an honor and a thrill to work with the team at Monolith, and she believes they will set new industry standards when they’re snapped up by other game studios. 

Monolith is best known for its two licensed Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor games, which have collectively sold more than 5.4 million units worldwide. 

WBD identified that its games division was substantially underperforming in its Q3 earnings report last year. The company earmarked titles such as multiplayer crossover fighting game MultiVersus and live-service shooter Suicide Squad as some of its lowest-selling releases in recent years, contributing to a more than US$300-million impairment to its games business in 2024.