Warner Bros. Games is planning to delve more into live service games as it reveals plans for future releases to have a 3–4-year service life cycle, as per a Q3 earnings call. Given recent backlash to WB’s upcoming Suicide Squad game this will likely be viewed as an ignorant and dismissive approach by the fans who voiced their opinions when the game was shown early in 2023.
Let’s take a look at what this means for WB Games going forward and what’s next for the future of its releases.
Warner Bros. Games (As A Service)
Thanks to a recent Q3 earnings call from Warner Bros. Games, we have learned that the company plans for all if not most of its future releases to be service based, with plans for said games to have a service life of around 3-4 years before stopping the service and updates and moving on to the next game.
What this means is that instead of games being released and what you get is what you get, games as a service will be constantly updated and have things swapped out and occasionally changed permanently but with a planned life before support from the studio gets shut down after a set amount of time. Similar to games such as Ubisoft’s The Division or Square Enix’s Marvel’s Avengers game that recently got shut down. So instead of getting games in a similar style to the immensely popular Batman Arkham games WB plans to release several titles on a service-based platform.
The Warner Bros. Q3 Earnings Call
Thanks to a transcript of the Warner Bros. third quarter earnings call, we have learned that the company is planning to delve more into live service games going forward. CEO David Zaslav said this during the call:
Our focus is on transforming our biggest franchises from largely console and PC based with three-four-year release schedules to include more always on gameplay through live services, multiplatform and free-to-play extensions with the goal to have more players spending more time on more platforms.
Zaslav went on to explain how the plan is to extend the life cycle of games, its monetization and engagement. While also making these services to a higher level than previous releases. Zaslav also went on to say this:
We are currently under scale and see significant opportunity to generate greater post purchase revenue.
So, the main takeaway from this is that this move is being made by WB and David Zaslav to generate more money from revenue and sales through a constant live service. Which is a disappointing move for fans hoping for more singular games from the company.
Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League’s Backlash
Early in 2023 Rocksteady gave the world a preview at its next game Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, revealing that it would indeed be a service-based game, which was previously rumored due to some leaked screenshots, as opposed to a standalone title akin to the studio’s beloved Arkham games.
Fans were left disappointed and underwhelmed at what they saw when this gameplay released as the footage shows a large departure from the Batman Arkham games that made Rocksteady so popular, especially considering Suicide Squad is supposedly in the same universe as the Arkham games. And as previously mentioned, Warner Bros plans for its future service-based games to last 3-4 so the game will only be active for a set amount of time.
With this announcement there is likely to be some understandable backlash given the reception to the recent Suicide Squad gameplay that seems to have just been swept under the rug apparently hasn’t been listened to and the comments made by Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav have somewhat affirmed suspicions that this is just a play to make more money as opposed to making content and game that fans want to play. A somewhat selfish move that only truly benefits those in charge.
With all that said it’s unclear as to what titles will be released under this business model as besides Suicide Squad nothing has been announced as of yet so for now fans cautiously await Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League to release on its current planned released date of February 2nd 2024 though given previous delays it’s uncertain if this will stick as Rocksteady have been strangely silent in the game since the gameplay trailer earlier in the year.
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