Warner Bros. Cancels Wonder Woman Game, Closes Three Studios

Warner Bros. has announced the cancellation of its much-anticipated Wonder Woman game and the closure of three of its development studios: Monolith Productions, Player First Games, and WB San Diego. This news, first reported by Bloomberg's Jason Schreier on Bluesky and later detailed in a full Bloomberg report, was confirmed by Warner Bros. to Kotaku.

In an official statement, Warner Bros. explained the decision as part of a strategic shift to focus on key franchises such as Harry Potter, Mortal Kombat, DC, and Game of Thrones. The statement read:

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. After careful consideration, we are closing three of our development studios – Monolith Productions, Player First Games and Warner Bros. Games San Diego. This is a strategic change in direction and not a reflection of these teams or the talent that consists within them.

The development of Monolith’s Wonder Woman videogame will not move forward. Our hope was to give players and fans the highest quality experience possible for the iconic character, and unfortunately this is no longer possible within our strategic priorities. This is another tough decision, as we recognize Monolith’s storied history of delivering epic fan experiences through amazing games. We greatly admire the passion of the three teams and thank every employee for their contributions. As difficult as today is, we remain focused on and excited about getting back to producing high-quality games for our passionate fans and developed by our world class studios and getting our Games business back to profitability and growth in 2025 and beyond.

This move comes after earlier reports this year indicated that the Wonder Woman project was facing challenges, including a reboot and a change in directors in early 2024. These issues were part of broader difficulties within Warner Bros.' gaming division, which also saw layoffs at Rocksteady, a tepid response to Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, and the shutdown of MultiVersus.

The gaming division has been undergoing significant changes, including the recent departure of long-time games head David Haddad and rumors of a potential sale of the division. The closure of these studios is a significant setback for Warner Bros.' efforts to expand its DC universe-connected gaming portfolio. Just a day before the announcement, James Gunn and Peter Safran stated that it would be "a couple of years" before the first DCU video game is released.

The closure of these studios marks a significant loss for the gaming industry. Monolith Productions, founded in 1994 and acquired by Warner Bros. in 2004, is renowned for its work on Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and its sequel, Shadow of War, which introduced the innovative Nemesis system, patented by Warner Bros. in 2021. Player First Games, established in 2019, developed MultiVersus, which, despite critical acclaim and initial success, did not meet Warner Bros.' expectations. WB San Diego, also founded in 2019, focused on mobile and free-to-play games.

These closures are part of a broader trend of layoffs, project cancellations, and studio shutdowns in the gaming industry over the past three years. In 2023, over 10,000 game developers were laid off, a number that increased to over 14,000 in 2024. While 2025 has seen numerous closures, the exact number of affected individuals remains unclear due to less transparency from companies regarding these layoffs and shutdowns.