Hogwarts Legacy publisher officially cancels long-awaited AAA game

Warner Bros. Games has announced the closure of three of its studios.

In what it calls a “strategic change in direction”, it’s been revealed that Warner Bros. Games will close Monolith Productions, Player First Games, and Warner Bros. Games San Diego.

I hardly need to emphasise that this is yet another major loss for the industry.

The publisher issued a statement to Kotaku.

It 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."

Hogwarts Legacy has, of course, been a major success for Warner Bros.

This isn’t the first time that Warner Bros. Games has voiced its desire to focus almost solely on Harry Potter, Mortal Kombat, DC, and Game of Thrones.

The strange thing here is that in shutting Monolith Productions, Warner Bros. is also ending production on the studio’s upcoming Wonder Woman game.

To state the obvious, yes, Wonder Woman is a DC property.

"The development of Monolith's Wonder Woman video game will not move forward. Our hope was to give players and fans the highest quality experience possible for the ionic character, and unfortunately this is no longer possible with our strategic priorities," the statement added.

“This is another tough decision, as we recognise Monolith's storied history of delivering epic fan experiences through amazing games."

Monolith has such a rich history that I cannot emphasise how much of a shame this is.

If you’ve played Middle-earth: Shadow of War, you’ll know how fantastic the game’s nemesis system is, which is something that was patented following launch.

I’ve always found that frustrating considering that no one else can use the mechanic and yet Warner Bros. chooses not to.

With Monolith now gone, it’s even less likely that the nemesis system will once again see the light of day.

Player First Games most recently worked on the now-shutdown MultiVersus.

"We greatly admire the passion of the three teams and thank every employee for their contributions," Warner Bros. Games concluded.