Warner Bros. Games has announced it has restructured into divisions centered on its four biggest brands: Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Mortal Kombat, and DC.
Per Variety, three current studio heads have been promoted to assume leadership roles for the development, production, and tech operations of these divisions. Warner Bros Games Montreal studio head Yves Lachance has been promoted to senior vice president, development. He will oversee the teams working on Harry Potter and Game of Thrones games.
Shaun Himmerick, studio head of Netherrealm Studios, has been promoted to senior vice president of development. He will be in charge of Mortal Kombat and DC titles. Lastly, Warner Bros. Games New York Studio chief Steven Flenory is promoted to senior vice president of central tech and services. He will oversee all game and publishing technology, customer service, quality assurance, and user research.
Mortal Kombat 1
Variety states it has confirmed with Warner Bros. that there were no layoffs or executive departures as a result of the restructuring. Earlier this month, Warner Bros. Discovery announced it would be split into two publicly traded companies to combat declining business: WBD Global Networks and WBD Streaming & Studios. The games division now sits under the latter umbrella, which is led by CEO David Zaslav.
This restructuring comes on the heels of what’s been a tumultuous year for Warner Bros. Games. Despite the massive success of titles like 2023’s Hogwarts Legacy, it has since endured the significant commercial failures of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and, to a lesser extent, MultiVersus and Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions. Mortal Kombat 1, despite selling over 5 million copies since its launch last September, was also considered an underwhelming sales performer compared to previous entries. All four games launched in 2024.
Warner Bros. Q1 2025 financial report stated revenue in the games division decreased 48 percent, naming Suicide Squad’s failure as one of the primary factors. Former Warner Bros. Games chief David Haddad stepped down from the company in January. A month later, in February, the publisher shut down three of its games studios: MultiVersus developer Player First Games (after acquiring it less than a year prior), Middle-earth/F.E.A.R. developer Monolith Productions (resulting in the cancelation of its in-development Wonder Woman game), and support studio Warner Bros. Games San Diego.
As for what’s next in the pipeline, Warner Bros. Games recently launched Mortal Kombat 1: Definitive Edition and announced a mobile RPG called DC World Collide. A Switch 2 port of Hogwarts Legacy arrived on June 5. Beyond this, its future slate of titles is unclear.
[Source: Variety]
