Warner Bros. Games is restructuring into divisions that will focus on its four key franchises: Harry Potter, Mortal Kombat, DC Universe and Game of Thrones — a strategy that the company revealed earlier this year as it shut down multiple studios and cancelled a triple-A project. The widespread changes also bring a leadership overhaul, with three studio heads promoted to senior vice president roles at WB Games, handling development and production of key IPs, services and technologies. The latest restructuring effort, as reported by Variety, did not include layoffs at WB Games.
WB Games to Focus on 4 Key Franchises
The leadership shake-up means Yves Lachance, head of WB Games Montréal, the studio behind games like Batman: Arkham Origins and Gotham Knights, will now be SVP in charge of development teams working on Harry Potter and Game of Thrones titles, the report from Variety detailed. Meanwhile Shaun Himmerick, head of Mortal Kombat developer NetherRealm, will supervise MK and DC Universe games.
Finally, Warner Bros. Games New York studio head Steven Flenory will be SVP overseeing game and publishing technology, customer service, quality assurance and user research.
“Our company is home to some of the biggest franchises in the world, and we are optimizing our team structure to develop long-term franchise roadmaps to delight players and fans of Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Mortal Kombat and DC games,” Warner Bros. Discovery’s CEO of global streaming and games JB Perrette said in a statement on Tuesday. “We are very fortunate to have a strong stable of development and technology talent, and Yves, Shaun and Steven are respected leaders with excellent track records in their areas of expertise. I’m looking forward to working closely with them and the team as we work to make the best games possible for our key franchises.” The three new SVPs handling key IPs and services will report to Perrette.
Turmoil at Warner Bros.
The changes follow a period of turmoil at Warner Bros. Games that saw misfiring releases leading to losses of $300 million (roughly Rs. 2,627 crore) at Warner Bros.’ games division in 2024 and the eventual departure of WB Interactive boss David Haddad earlier this year. Following a spate of underperforming games like Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and MultiVersus, Warner Bros. Games shut down three of its studios in February and cancelled the Wonder Woman game in development at Monolith Productions. The company said it would shift its focus to its core franchises
“We have had to make some very difficult decisions to structure our development studios and investments around building the best games possible with our key franchises -– Harry Potter, Mortal Kombat, DC and Game of Thrones,” WB Games had said in a statement at the time.
Earlier this month, Warner Bros. Discovery announced it would split into two separate media companies, Streaming & Studios and Global Networks, separating films, television, streaming and gaming divisions from sports and news networks.