As first reported by Variety, Warner Bros. has restructured its WB Games branch into four divisions focused on four key franchises: Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Mortal Kombat, and the DC Universe.
The restructuring has promoted three former studio heads to oversee games made for each of these major franchises. Former WB Games Montreal studio head Yves Lachance is now a senior vice president of development for Harry Potter and Game of Thrones projects, while NetherRealm studio head Shaun Himmerick is now a senior vice president of development for Mortal Kombat and DC Universe projects.
Last but not least, former WB Games New York studio head, Steven Flenory, is now the senior vice president of central technology and services, overseeing publishing technology, customer service, quality assurance, and user research.
Every studio under WB Games will now report to Lachance and Himmerick, in accordance with the games they’re making and which franchises those games come from. So, the team at Avalanche Software working on a new Hogwarts Legacy game would report to Lachance, while Rocksteady, who is presumably working on a new game set in the DC Universe, would report to Himmerick.
Lachance, Himmerick, and Flenory will all report to WB’s global streaming and games chief executive officer, JB Perrette.
According to Variety’s report, this restructuring did not result in any layoffs or executive departures, which is good news on the layoff front.
“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,” said JB Perrette per Variety’s report.
“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 nd the team as we work to make the best games possible for our key franchises.”
Earlier this year, Warner Bros confirmed that its WB Games division reported “disappointing“ revenues, shortly after former WB Games chief executive officer, David Haddad, left the company following the failure of games like Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and MultiVersus.
Warner Bros also shut down veteran studio Monolith Productions, MultiVersus developer Player First Games, and its San Diego Studio, which was meant to develop a mobile game but never had the chance to release anything.
This is also the latest example of the company doubling-down on previous statements that it would focus its games business on the four aforementioned franchises.
