What are Warner Bros Games working on - A look at their studios
Warner Bros Interactive, or WB Games, had a pretty weak 2022, they only released one big game in Gotham Knights and while it sold ok, it wasn’t the most well received title.
2023 should be a much better year, the highly anticipated Hogwarts Legacy is almost here, Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League should arrive soon after and there is the potential for so much more. So with that said, let us check out their studios and see what they might be up to.
Avalanche Software
Series known to them: Disney Infinity
Way back in 2017 Avalanche Software, not to be confused with Avalanche Studios, released Cars 3: Driven to Win, their first game as a Warner Bros owned studio. Then in late 2018 a bunch of random footage for, what appeared to be a Harry Potter game leaked and the studio was linked to that rumour. It wouldn’t be until September 2020 that the game was officially revealed.
After the reveal the game went radio silent, while the developers got stuck into working on the game. In the past few months, we have started to see the game more and more, with long gameplay reveals, musical information, the cast reveal and more. With the game set to release in February for PlayStation 5, PC and Xbox Series X|S, the studio will be focusing on these final weeks to get it ready. Once that is done though, they will turn their attention to the April release for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One and then once those are out, the July release for Switch. Once all the versions are out for players, there is a good chance of DLC, so we should hear from this studio as the year goes on.
Monolith Productions
Series known to them: Middle-earth series, F.E.A.R. series
2023 marks the six year anniversary for Middle-earth: Shadow of War, which is a fantastic game and in that time, the studio was radio silent. That changed in 2021 when they revealed they were working on a Wonder Woman game, but that was December 2021, here we are a year later and there is no news on the title.
Across their corporate page and social channels the studio has been promoting their open roles, something they have been doing for the past 12 months. Given that the company is still actively hiring for Wonder Woman, the chances of a release this year are slim, as in single digit slim. It would not surprise me that either at one of the Comic-Con events in America or if DC bring back the Fandome event, that we get a new trailer for the game. However given the long time between games and their silence on the game so far, I can’t see anything more coming this year from them.
NetherRealm Studios
Series known to them: Mortal Kombat series, Injustice series
Mortal Kombat is a well known game at this point, the series started out with a bit of controversy but rose above all of that and has been getting stronger with each release. Mortal Kombat 11 is now 4 years old and while the game did get a number of updates, including celebrating the series 30th anniversary, the studio behind it has been fairly quiet.
Well they were quiet until late last year when they announced Mortal Kombat: Onslaught, an all-new game set within the world of Mortal Kombat, but here is the kicker, its not a fighting game. The game is set between Mortal Kombat X and Mortal Kombat 11 and is a free-to-play MOBA with collectable elements. The game did some country specific soft launches last year as well, but if that was not enough mobile Mortal Kombat for you, the more traditional Mortal Kombat game for mobile is still around and getting updates. We should here more from Netherrealm Studios in 2023, the only real question is if they will surprise us with Mortal Kombat 12 or not.
Rocksteady Studios
Series known to them: Batman: Arkham series
Rocksteady Studios had quite the busy six years, because between 2009 and 2015 the studio dropped the Arkham Trilogy of Batman games and set the bar for what a Superhero game needs to be. Since then, the only thing they have released was Batman: Arkham VR in 2016 and calling it a game would be considered extremely generous. In 2020 they announced that they were stepping back into the world of DC with Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
The game was announced but then it went silent and a year later, the studio released a new trailer and advertised a 2022 release. Pretty early into 2022, the studio broke their silence again to reveal that the game would be coming out in 2023. At The Game Awards 2022, it was revealed the current release date is May 26th. Given the studio has spent a lot of time creating this game, expect them to be mostly silent until March, assuming the date sticks and then expect to hear a lot from them.
TT Games
TT Games Knutsford
Series known to them: Lego everything….
After making a Lego game a year (sometimes more), since 2005, Lego Star Wars The Skywalker Saga releasing in 2022 broke that trend by being the first game in three years. The game finally got released in April of 2022 and saw a pretty consistent release schedule of DLC for the game, culminating in The Galactic Edition at the end of the year.
Given the studios issues in developing the game and the talk of them abandoning the fancy new engine they built for it, I would not expect to see a game from this studio in 2022. That of course could be proven incorrect, if the studio goes back into their yearly release cycle.
TT Games Fusion
Series known to them: Lego City series
The Fusion branch of TT Games is more a sister studio to the main branch and actively supports them, including with the recent Star Wars title. In years past however, they have been the lead studio for a number of games, which if they do so again, may see them drop a game in 2023, but I wouldn’t place money on that.
TT Games Odyssey
Series known to them: Lego Star Wars Battles
In 2021 the last update for Lego Star Wars Battles got its last update and the studio has been silent since then. As they focus on mobile games, there is a chance they have something new in the works, the problem is we don’t know what. Both Lego Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga got updates last year, but there is no word on what they were for.
Given their mobile nature, if they are working on something, we will only learn about it, when they are ready to release it.
WB Games Montréal
Series known to them: Batman: Arkham Origins
The Montreal location for WB Games released Gotham Knights last year and while they dropped last gen support, the game launched and didn’t blow people away. Since then the studio has released some free updates, including the Heroic Assault update, but there is no word on if they will keep pushing out more in 2023.
We do know that the studio has a second comic related game in development, but there is no word on what it might be or when it might be out. However with Gotham Knights out the door, development should pick up on it. Will we get a reveal this year? Possibly, the real question is when if they do?
WB Games Boston
Series known to them: Game of Thrones: Conquest, Batman: Arkham Underworld
The studio is currently supporting the release of Game of Thrones: Conquest, which is still getting content updates, more than 5 years after its release, in fact 2022 saw a lot of updates hit the game. The problem is that the studio is some ~200 people strong and they can’t all be working on a, soon to be, six year old mobile game.
The studio is looking to hire more people, a few roles are for Lead Game Designers, with a requirement to work with the brand owners of the IP, to ensure things are being done correctly. As the studio is a mobile developer, whatever it is will likely be there, and as they work with HBO anything is possible, maybe even The White Lotus.
WB Games New York
Series known to them: Support studio
Not a main developer, the studio tends to focus more on tools and analytics of games, in order to help other studios get things done on time. As such, there is no game expected from them this year, or likely any year.
WB Games San Diego
Series known to them: Nothing yet
The studio was founded back in 2019 and since then the have done nothing, well except hire a lot of people. The studio is currently working on what they called “a cross-platform next generation free-to-play game”. Yeah I am not suer what the heck that means either.
We know that the studio was founded to create mobile games, which likely explains the free-to-play part, but we don’t know what they are working on. The studio is still hiring, with a number of positions open, we just have to wait and see what they are up to.
WB Games San Francisco
Series known to them: Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, Fantastic Beasts: Cases From the Wizarding World
With the closure of Harry Potter: Wizards Unite last year, I was hoping we would see something from the mobile focused San Francisco studio by years end. That was not the case and while they are hiring still for a new mobile title, there is no word on what it might be.
So there we go, Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment, or WB Games for those with a sense of fun. We know they have a few big games meant to release this year, but who knows if that will come to pass. Do you think we were right, or way off base on this?
