When it comes to restructuring and rebranding, Warner Bros. is definitely one name that keeps popping up. With the media side of the business having already undergone significant changes, the gaming side is now following suit. Warner Bros. Games have announced that moving forward, it will all be about the franchises of Harry Potter, Mortal Kombat, Game of Thrones, and DC.
This involves the promotion of several key executives, including Warner Bros. Games Montréal studio head Yves Lachance, who will oversee Harry Potter and Game of Thrones games, and NetherRealm studio head Shaun Himmerick will oversee Mortal Kombat and DC games. At the same time, Warner Bros. Games New York studio chief Steven Flenory will now oversee game and publishing technology, customer service, quality assurance, and user research.
“Our company is home to some of the biggest franchises in the world, and we are optimizing our team structure to develop long-term franchise roadmaps to delight players and fans of Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Mortal Kombat and DC games,” J.B. Perrette, Warner Bros Discovery’s CEO of global streaming and games, said to Variety.
“We are very fortunate to have a strong stable of development and technology talent, and Yves, Shaun and Steven are respected leaders with excellent track records in their areas of expertise. I’m looking forward to working closely with them and the team as we work to make the best games possible for our key franchises.”
This follows a tumultuous period for the company as a whole, with several studios shutting down along with cancelled projects, which included a Wonder Woman game at Monolith Productions. The likes of Player First Games, which gave us MultiVersus, and WB San Diego.
Will this new direction help the entire organisation steer the ship in the right direction? There is certainly hope, but we won’t know for sure until there are results. At least, this time, there have been no layoffs.
