Executives at Warner Bros. Discovery have expressed interest in expanding their gaming catalogue based on franchises like Harry Potter, DC, Game of Thrones, and Mortal Kombat.
According to a report by Variety, CEO David Zaslav has seen potential in the gaming industry after the success of Mortal Kombat 1 and Hogwarts Legacy, and feels that the company’s IPs allow them to compete with larger, more established companies.
“A very consistent message coming from the executive layer of Warner Bros. Discovery is the importance of franchises,” Warner Bros. Interactive president David Haddad said to Variety. “There’s a unique and important role games have in keeping our franchises relevant, resonant and exciting, because there’s plenty of fans and plenty of people consuming content where games are their starting point.”
Part of this effort to support those franchises through games involves keeping up a constant flow of game content, shifting away from major PC and console titles with long development cycles. This strategy would include an emphasis on live service games like Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, mobile games like Game of Thrones: Conquest, and free-to-play games like MultiVersus.
“We want it to be ‘always on.’ And the good news is the gaming space is lending itself to that,” said CEO of global streaming and gaming JB Perrette. He said that he is looking to build out their main franchises with a combination of these styles of games, but it will take some time, with plans extending beyond 2024.
The studio is also looking to James Gunn and Peter Safran, who are heading the new DCU, to develop games within that continuity. TV shows and movies based on video games are also expected to perform well following the success of HBO’s The Last of Us.
Perrette said that they would eventually like to incorporate games into Max, Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming service, but they need to work on improving the basics before delving into new territory.
Warner Bros. already has a few IP-based titles on the way, with Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League releasing in full later this week and the wide release of MultiVersus coming later this year, along with Quidditch-based Harry Potter game, and a Wonder Woman game in the works.