NetherRealm Studios, the developer behind the Mortal Kombat and Injustice games reportedly shut down its entire mobile team and laid off dozens of employees across the board.
A screenshot from Mortal Kombat: Onslaught (2023), NetherRealm Studios
Tony Lazzara, who was a Quality Assurance Analyst at NetherRealm Studios announced he was laid off alongside the company’s entire mobile team.
He wrote on LinkedIn, “Good morning internet. Unfortunately, yesterday Netherrealm’s mobile team was shut down. A ton of very talented people were put out of work. We had live services on multiple titles such as Mortal Kombat Mobile, Injustice 2, and Mortal Kombat Onslaught. I was also affected. Every single person I’ve worked with on that team is an amazing collaborator, passionate, and very creative.”
Tony Lazzara on LinkedIn
Elizabeth Ramirez, who had worked at NetherRealm for nearly 9 years as an animator also shared that she was laid off.
She wrote on LinkedIn, “It hurts me to announce I’ve been laid off from NetherRealm Studios after about 10 years of working there. I will be seeking new opportunities as an Animator for games or film. I have experience with animating motion capture in Autodesk Motion Builder, hand key animation in Maya, and processing motion capture data. The types of things I have animated are combat fighting, attacks, characters with weapons, mechanical rigs, and taunts to name a few. I will appreciate any leads and recommendations to other studios. Thank you for the team members that took the time to help me grow as an animator over the years. A new demo reel and resume will be on its way. For now this is a lot to process mentally and I need some time to clear my head.”
Elizabeth Ramirez on LinkedIn
According to Mike Straw at Insider Gaming NetherRealm Studios, which is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery laid off at least 50 people.
NetherRealm Studios’ mobile games included Mortal Kombat, Injustice 2, Injustice: Gods Among Us, and Mortal Kombat: Onslaught.
A screenshot from Injustice 2 (2017), NetherRealm Studios
These layoffs come in the wake of Warner Bros. Discovery noting that their most recent attempt at a AAA game, Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League was a financial disaster.
The company’s Chief Financial Officer Gunnar Wiedenfels detailed, “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
Following the game’s failure, a rumor surfaced from YouTuber Vara Dark claiming that Warner Bros. Discovery might shut down the game’s developer Rocksteady.
Dark posted to X, “Warner Bros is internally talking about closing Rocksteady or halving their 250 employees after Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League’s bomb.”
She continued, “I have heavily covered Warner Bros Games and Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League since release because of what it represented for Warner Bros Games and a beloved franchise. When it was greenlit, we were seeing a giant scramble for studios to create live-service games and this one released too late plus the content did not resonate with players.”
A screenshot from Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League (2024), Rocksteady
Furthermore, she noted, “Rocksteady Studios’ co-founders and studio heads also departed the company back in 2022. Rocksteady is a shell of the company it used to be and we saw this happen recently with Embracer Group and Volition, a company that had 30 years of experience under their belt and it sounds as though Warner Bros is planning to pull the plug on Rocksteady, too. ”
“They have no other games publicly announced and there does not seem to be any confidence in them anymore. Even back in 2016 we got the Batman: Arkham VR game that was developed by Rocksteady and the new Batman: Arkham Shadow VR game is being done by Camouflaj. Only time will tell. Doesn’t seem like the future is very bright for Rocksteady,” she concluded.
While I do not usually speak on insider information I receive, I think this is one we all have pieced together ourselves. Warner Bros is internally talking about closing Rocksteady or halving their 250 employees after Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League’s bomb.
Just last…
— Vara Dark (@Vara_Dark) June 6, 2024
A report from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier claimed that Rocksteady was cutting back its support of the game. He explained that the developer was only providing “barebones support” and it was “Definitely not as much as they’d originally planned.”
Jason Schreier on X
Clearly, things are not going well for Warner Bros. Discovery when it comes to its game development across multiple studios.
What do you make of NetherRealm Studios shutting down their mobile team and laying off at least 50 employees?
