Warner Bros. Scraps Wonder Woman Game, Shuts Three Studios

Warner Bros. is canceling its planned Wonder Woman game and closing three studios: Monolith Productions, Player First Games, and WB San Diego. Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier broke the news on Bluesky, later confirmed by WB in a statement to Kotaku.

WB cited a strategic shift focusing on key franchises like Harry Potter, Mortal Kombat, DC, and Game of Thrones as the reason for the closures. The statement acknowledged the difficult decision, praising the talent and contributions of the affected teams while emphasizing a return to profitability and growth by 2025.

The cancellation of the Wonder Woman game follows earlier reports of development troubles, including reboots and director changes in early 2024. This is part of a broader struggle within WB's gaming division, including layoffs at Rocksteady, the mixed reception of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, and the shutdown of MultiVersus. The recent departure of long-time games head David Haddad and rumors of a potential sale further highlight the division's challenges.

This move significantly impacts WB's DC universe gaming efforts, particularly given James Gunn and Peter Safran's recent announcement that the first DCU video game is still a couple of years away.

The closures represent a significant loss for the games industry. Monolith Productions, founded in 1994 and acquired by WB in 2004, is known for its Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War games, which pioneered the Nemesis system (patented by WB in 2021). Player First Games (established 2019), responsible for MultiVersus, saw initial success but ultimately underperformed. WB San Diego (also established 2019) focused on mobile, free-to-play games.

These shutdowns are unfortunately consistent with a broader trend of layoffs, cancellations, and studio closures in the games industry over the past three years. While 2023 and 2024 saw over 10,000 and 14,000 game developer layoffs respectively, precise figures for 2025 remain less clear due to decreased reporting.