UPDATE 21.33pm: Warner Bros. has confirmed reports of Wonder Woman’s cancellation and the closure of three of its studios – Monolith Productions, Player First Games, and Warner Bros. Games San Diego – calling the move a “strategic change in direction”.
“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,” the publisher wrote in a statement to Kotaku.
“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.”
“The development of Monolith’s Wonder Woman video game will not move forward,” Warner Bros. continued. “Our hope was to give players and fans the highest quality experience possible for the ionic character, and unfortunately this is no longer possible with our strategic priorities. This is another tough decision, as we recognise Monolith’s storied history of delivering epic fan experiences through amazing games.”
“We greatly admire the passion of the three teams and thank every employee for their contributions,” Warner Bros. concluded. “As difficult as today is, we remain focused on and excited about getting back to producing high-quality games for our passionate fans and developed by our world class studios and getting our Games business back to profitably and growth in 2025 and beyond.”
Warner Bros. head of games and streaming JB Perrette went into more candid detail about the closures and cancellations in a staff memo seen by Bloomberg. “The quality of too many of our new releases has really missed the mark,” Perrette wrote. “We need to make some substantial changes to our portfolio/team structure if we are to commit the necessary resources to get back to a ‘fewer but bigger franchises’ strategy.
Monolith Productions was the longest-running of the three studios hit by Warner Bros.’s closures. Founded in 1994, it developed an impressive portfolio of acclaimed titles over the years, including The Operative: No One Lives Forever, F.E.A.R, Condemned: Criminal Origins, and Middle-earth: Shadow of War. Warner Bros. Games San Diego was founded in 2019, while Player First Games – responsible for ill-fated free-to-play fighter MultiVersus – was established in 2021. Warner Bros. hasn’t revealed how many employees will lose their jobs as a result of its “strategic change in direction”.
ORIGINAL STORY 7.34pm: Following recent claims Warner Bros.’s Wonder Woman game was in trouble and still “years away from release”, the company has reportedly now cancelled the project and shut down its developer Monolith Productions as part of a string of studio closures.
That’s according to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, who made the claim in a post shared on BlueSky. “Warner Bros. Games is shutting down Monolith Productions, Player First Games, and WB San Diego, sources tell Bloomberg News,” Schreier wrote. “Warner Bros. is also canceling the Wonder Woman game.”
Schreier first suggested Wonder Woman was in trouble earlier this month, as part of a report detailing the culture of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment during the tenure of outgoing president David Haddad – a period said to have lacked a “strong, cohesive vision”.
At the time, Schreier claimed Wonder Woman had “struggled to coalesce” in the years since its announcement in 2021, with the project having switched directors and been rebooted early last year. All that upheaval was reported to have cost Warner Bros. $100m, with sources telling Bloomberg its future remained “in question”.
Wonder Woman’s reported cancellation comes amid an extremely rocky period for Warner Bros.’s games division, with Warner Bros. Montreal’s Gotham Knights, Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, party brawler MultiVersus, and last year’s Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions all having failed to resonate with consumers.
We’ve reached out to Warner Bros. for comment on these latest reports and will update the story as more comes in.