Amid a 41 p.c YoY decline in video games income within the second quarter of 2024, the business catastrophe that was Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and reported layoffs, Warner Bros. wants a success. And the writer is reportedly wanting on the Hogwarts Legacy sequel to ship it for them. A comply with as much as the best promoting recreation of 2023 is likely one of the greatest priorities for the studio, a Warner Bros. Discovery government stated this week.
Hogwarts Legacy Sequel ‘One of many Greatest Priorities’ at WB
Talking at a convention Wednesday (through Selection), Warner Bros. Discovery’s chief monetary officer Gunnar Wiedenfels stated {that a} direct sequel to Hogwarts Legacy was a aim for the studio within the coming years.
“Clearly, a successor to ‘Hogwarts Legacy’ is likely one of the greatest priorities in a few years down the highway,” Wiedenfels reportedly stated on the Financial institution of America’s 2024 Media, Communications & Leisure Convention. “So there may be definitely a major development contribution from that [games] enterprise in our strategic outlook right here,” he added.
It is no shock Warner Bros. Is setting excessive expectations with the Hogwarts Legacy sequel. The Wizarding World recreation from Avalanche Software program was the largest hit of 2023, promoting over 22 million copies by the tip of the 12 months. Warner Bros. Interactive Leisure president David Haddad had claimed earlier this 12 months that the sport offered two million copies through the Christmas vacation season alone.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Underwhelmed
Warner Bros. Video games, nonetheless, has struggled to copy — and even come close to — that type of success with its subsequent releases. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, the studio’s tentpole triple-A launch this 12 months, was a important and business failure that led to the corporate taking a $200 million loss. “Video games income declined considerably because of the success of Hogwarts Legacy within the prior 12 months quarter, whereas this 12 months’s Q1 launch of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League generated considerably decrease revenues,” Warner Bros. stated in its Q1 2024 earnings report.
Within the second quarter of this 12 months, Warner Bros. reported that its video games income declined 41 p.c YoY, primarily because of the weak efficiency of Suicide Squad. A stay service looter-shooter, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League launched to middling evaluations and low participant curiosity from the outset. Gamers criticised the sport’s stay service mannequin, particularly since developer Rocksteady is thought for its high-quality single-player video games from the Batman Arkham sequence.
In his newest feedback, Wiedenfels additionally reportedly acknowledged that Suicide Squad was a “miss.”
Earlier this week, WB launched Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions, one other Wizarding World title focussed on the magical sport from the world of Harry Potter, throughout PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Sequence S/X.