Amid a 41 % YoY decline in video games income within the second quarter of 2024, the business catastrophe that was Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and reported layoffs, Warner Bros. wants a success. And the writer is reportedly trying on the Hogwarts Legacy sequel to ship it for them. A observe as much as the very best promoting recreation of 2023 is among the largest priorities for the studio, a Warner Bros. Discovery govt mentioned this week.
Hogwarts Legacy Sequel ‘One of many Largest Priorities’ at WB
Talking at a convention Wednesday (through Selection), Warner Bros. Discovery’s chief monetary officer Gunnar Wiedenfels mentioned {that a} direct sequel to Hogwarts Legacy was a objective for the studio within the coming years.
“Clearly, a successor to ‘Hogwarts Legacy’ is among the largest priorities in a few years down the highway,” Wiedenfels reportedly mentioned on the Financial institution of America’s 2024 Media, Communications & Leisure Convention. “So there may be actually a big progress contribution from that [games] enterprise in our strategic outlook right here,” he added.
It is no shock Warner Bros. Is setting excessive expectations with the Hogwarts Legacy sequel. The Wizarding World recreation from Avalanche Software program was the largest hit of 2023, promoting over 22 million copies by the top of the yr. Warner Bros. Interactive Leisure president David Haddad had claimed earlier this yr that the sport bought two million copies in the course of the Christmas vacation season alone.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Underwhelmed
Warner Bros. Video games, nevertheless, has struggled to copy — and even come close to — that type of success with its subsequent releases. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, the studio’s tentpole triple-A launch this yr, was a vital and business failure that led to the corporate taking a $200 million loss. “Video games income declined considerably as a result of success of Hogwarts Legacy within the prior yr quarter, whereas this yr’s Q1 launch of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League generated considerably decrease revenues,” Warner Bros. mentioned in its Q1 2024 earnings report.
Within the second quarter of this yr, Warner Bros. reported that its video games income declined 41 % YoY, primarily as a result of weak efficiency of Suicide Squad. A reside service looter-shooter, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League launched to middling evaluations and low participant curiosity from the outset. Gamers criticised the sport’s reside service mannequin, particularly since developer Rocksteady is thought for its high-quality single-player video games from the Batman Arkham sequence.
In his newest feedback, Wiedenfels additionally reportedly acknowledged that Suicide Squad was a “miss.”
Earlier this week, WB launched Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions, one other Wizarding World title focussed on the magical sport from the world of Harry Potter, throughout PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Sequence S/X.
