Entertainment giant Warner Bros has reported a 53 per cent decrease in the level of revenue its games arm brought in during 2024.
That's according to the company's 10-K filing with the SEC, in which it revealed that content revenue overall dipped by eight per cent for the year due to its games revenue declining by more than 50 per cent.
For the three months ending December 2024, Warner Bros reported a 29 per cent decrease in games revenue year-on-year.
Overall the firm is claiming that this year-on-year decline is due to 2023 seeing the launches of Hogwarts Legacy and Mortal Kombat 1; what this version of events leaves out is that Warner Bros' line-up for 2024 relied on super hero romp Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and character brawler MultiVersus, both of which failed to meet expectations.
Earlier this week, Warner Bros confirmed that it was closing Monolith, Player First and its San Diego studio.
"As we have previously said, 2024 was a disappointing year for our Games business and we have recently announced a restructuring plan to refocus our resources and capital on proven IP and games from proven, world class studios," Warner Bros wrote in a letter to shareholders.
"We are focusing our Games business around four tentpole franchises that have each generated over $1 billion in consumer sales in past years: Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Mortal Kombat, and DC - particularly top tier characters like Batman.
"Just two years ago, our Games team broke through with Hogwarts Legacy and created a completely new gaming franchise that was the best-selling game of the year - a result that only three other franchises in the last 15 years have achieved. That gives us confidence that with our re-focused strategy we can get back to producing high-quality games built for long term consumer engagement, which we expect to propel our Games division back to profit in 2025 and emerge as a more significant contributor to growth in the years ahead."
