The video game industry has already experienced a lot of layoffs this year and now Warner Bros. has announced it's shutting down three studios.
This includes Player First - the team behind the Smash-like brawler MultiVersus, which also announced the end of its service earlier this month and will go offline in May 2025. Apart from this, WB San Diego is closing its doors. This team supposedly had an exciting new 'AAA' free-to-play in the works.
And last is the closure of Monolith Productions (Middle-earth) including the cancellation of its new Wonder Woman game, which has reportedly been in development for multiple years now. Warner Bros. shared the following statement with Kotaku explaining how these layoffs are all tied to a "strategic change":
"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. 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."
MultiVersus was designed as a free-to-play and is shutting down just a year after its relaunch on Xbox, PlayStation and PC.
