Warner Bros. Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels recently revealed that one of the company’s “biggest priorities” is a Hogwarts Legacy successor.
A screenshot from Hogwarts Legacy (2023), Avalanche Software
During an appearance at Bank of America’s 2024 Media, Communications & Entertainment Conference, Variety reported that Wiedenfels said, “Obviously, a successor to ‘Hogwarts Legacy’ is one of the biggest priorities in a couple of years down the road.”
He added, “So there is certainly a significant growth contribution from that [games] business in our strategic outlook here.”
A screenshot from Hogwarts Legacy (2023), Avalanche Software
READ: Hogwarts Legacy Former Lead Designer, Troy Leavitt, Speaks Out
The game was a massive success for Warner Bros. Discovery selling over 22 million copies in just 2023 alone. At the beginning of January, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment president David Haddad praised, “But it’s not just the unit sold that I’m so proud of, it’s just that it delighted the fans so much.”
He added, “It brought Harry Potter to life in a new way for gamers where they could be themselves in this world, in this story. And that’s what the team at Avalanche set out to do when they were developing the game and I think that’s really why it resonated so well and remains the best-selling game of the year in the entire industry worldwide. That’s a position that typically is held by one of these incumbent’s sequel games and we’re so proud that we’ve been able to break into the top ranks.”
A screenshot from Hogwarts Legacy (2023), Avalanche Software
Following the massive success of Hogwarts Legacy, Warner Bros. Discovery and its games division have struggled including a massive failure in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
Wiedenfels revealed that the company took a $200 million impairment charge on the game during the company’s 2024 first quarter earnings results webcast. He explained, “Starting with Studios, the $400 million+ year-over-year decline during Q1 was primarily due to the very tough comp we faced in games against the success of Hogwart’s Legacy last year in the first quarter, in conjunction with the disappointing Suicide Squad release this past quarter, which we impaired, leading to a $200 million impact to EBITDA during the first quarter.”
Character art for Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League (2024), Rocksteady
More recently in the company’s Earnings Release for its 2024 Q2, Warner Bros. Discovery shared that its Games division revenue declined by 41%.
The report stated, “Games revenue declined 41% ex-FX, primarily driven by the weak performance of Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League this year, compared to the strong performance of Hogwarts Legacy in the prior year.”
Wiedenfels added during the Earnings Call, “While, as we’ve called out last quarter, games are still struggling against last year’s Hogwarts Legacy comp, and a muted response to Suicide Squad this year.”
The company’s CEO and President of Global Streaming and Games JB Perrette also addressed the game on the call as well. He said, “The reality is we’ve had the unfortunate, in the short period of 12 months, we went from having the record year that we had in 2023 with Hogwarts Legacy, to unfortunately having the opposite side of that spectrum with Suicide Squad.”
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Sweet Baby Inc. credits
In fact, a recent report from Tom Philips at Eurogamer claims that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League developer has begun laying off employees. Specifically, his report claimed the company laid off over half of its Quality Assurance department reducing it from 33 to 15. The report also asserted that the layoffs affect those outside of Quality Assurance as well and have affected individuals across the board from junior staff to individuals who have been with the company for over five years.
A number of employees allegedly told the outlet that “product quality will now suffer as a result” of the layoffs.
A previous report from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier claimed that Rocksteady staff was being reallocated to work on a director’s cut of Hogwarts Legacy.
Harley Quinn about to execute Batman in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League (2024), Rocksteady
What do you make of Warner Bros. Discovery prioritizing a successor to Hogwarts Legacy?
