Warner Bros. Discovery's latest quarterly financial report shows that its game division has suffered a serious setback, with revenue in the quarter falling significantly year-on-year to only US$9.7 billion (about 69.52 billion yuan), and an overall net loss of US$10 billion (about 71.67 billion yuan), of which the loss of US$9.1 billion (about 65.22 billion yuan) is attributed to asset impairment. However, there were positive signs in terms of the number of subscribers to the company's subscription service, which increased by 3.6 million compared to the previous quarter to reach a total of 103.3 million subscribers.

In response to questions about the value of the gaming business to the company's overall strategy, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav and President of Global Streaming & Games JB Perrette noted that the gaming division has been in a "volatile state" recently, with gaming revenue down 41% year-over-year in the quarter.

Among them, "Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League" became the hardest hit area, and the game's market performance was much lower than expected, and all of this was evident earlier this year, with the June financial report pointing out that the loss of "Suicide Squad" directly led to Warner Bros. $200 million. At the same time, the contrast is underscored by the popularity of Hogwarts Legacy, which has been selling well and consistently since its release in February last year, with annual sales approaching and possibly even surpassing 24 million units.

It is understood that the development process of "Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League" was full of twists and turns, and the company's management made vacillating decisions, lacked a clear direction, and was too demanding in details, which undoubtedly put great pressure on the development team. In addition, Warner Bros. asked Rocksteady Studios, which is good at making single-player games, to get involved in third-person shooters, which they are not good at, which added unnecessary cost waste, and also led to the departure of the two founders of Rocksteady Studios in 2022 to create a new studio, hoping to get rid of the pressure and constraints of the outside world.

At the same time, the difficulties of Warner Bros.'s gaming business also reflect the company's overall financial difficulties. In recent years, the company's advertising and cinema revenue has declined, while copyright fees have continued to rise, resulting in consecutive losses and a sharp decline in stock prices. In this context, the failure of "Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League" is undoubtedly worse.

However, in the face of difficulties, Warner Bros. did not give up on the development of the game business. Both David Zaslav and JB Perrette said they would step up their investments in the gaming space, especially in the free-to-play market, to mitigate cyclical fluctuations in the console gaming industry. In addition, Warner Bros. also plans for the future by acquiring Player First Games, the developer of "Warner Smash Bros." ", hoping to continue to use Warner's 11 studios and consider licensing some IP to other game studios to develop games. "Other companies are also interested in using some of Warner's IP for game production, and we are investigating this possibility" in an effort to revive the game business.

While Warner Bros. Discovery's share price has fallen by more than 47% over the past year, the company as a whole is facing serious challenges, forcing Warner to find ways to save itself from the storm, and rumors that Rocksteady Studios may face restructuring or closure, Warner Bros. is more interested in strengthening the collaboration between its multiple studios and sees it as an important part of Warner Bros.'s gaming business.

This article is from Xinzhi self-media and does not represent the views and positions of Business Xinzhi.If there is any suspicion of infringement, please contact the administrator of the Business News Platform.Contact: system@shangyexinzhi.com