Warner Bros. seems to be done with competing in the console games market and will be focusing on mobile, free-to-play, and live-service games instead.
Citing a "volatile" market for AAA games, Warner Bros. Discovery head of games J.B. Perrette said the company will be moving in from single-player games like Hogwarts Legacy.
Instead, the game developer and publisher will be "down on games as an area where we think there is a lot more growth opportunity."
Warner Bros. recently released the Arkham series spin-off Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which garnered the company enough money from microtransactions and live-service subscriptions despite the game performing lower than Warner's expected sales.
Warner Bros to Focus on Established IPs
Perrette's statement also indicated that Warner Bros. would focus on cashing on its established titles under its domain rather than try to roll out new IPs.
This is in addition to the company's vision to jump into virtual reality and "virtual worlds" that it expects would "increase in scale and adoption."
It is uncertain how the new "strategic investment plan" will affect announced future projects, including a sequel to Hogwarts Legacy, Warner Bros' biggest seller last year.
Also Read : Hogwarts Legacy Surpasses 22 Million Copies Sold, Warner Bros. Hints More Harry Potter Games
More Game Publishers Rely on In-Game Microtransactions
Warner Bros' decision to move away from consoles follows a growing trend of game publishers pushing more and more in-game microtransactions and live services to profit.
Even Microsoft, Xbox's parent company, expressed plans to keep most of its games under the Game Pass, which players needed to pay monthly to access their games.
Free-to-play games are most notorious for microtransactions, particularly in games tied to big titles and franchises. The majority of these games also promote pay-to-win strategies to progress or compete with other players.
Many modern big-title games released today often include live-service subscriptions and other in-game microtransactions in addition to the advertised downloadable content.
Most notorious were Call of Duty, FIFA, and NBA franchises, releasing a new game each year with minimal changes from previous installments but still filled with in-game shops.
