MultiVersus did not meet expectations, but Warner Bros. is focusing on its intellectual property.
Warner Bros. Discovery is heavily investing in its intellectual property in the gaming sector, despite MultiVersus underperforming and incurring losses of up to 100 million dollars.
Warner Bros. Discovery has acknowledged that its free-to-play fighting game MultiVersus has not met performance expectations, along with the rest of its video game division. This was announced alongside the revelation of two new characters that will join the popular brawler. Reportedly, MultiVersus has added another $100 million to the $200 million already written off in losses this year, following the release of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which also received negative reviews and sold less than anticipated.
In a recent earnings call, David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, stated that the gaming division has been "substantially below expectations." However, he added that the company will focus on four key franchises: Harry Potter, Mortal Kombat, Game of Thrones, and DC, specifically mentioning Batman. In the last financial quarter, only one new game was released: Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions, although titles such as Mortal Kombat 1 and MultiVersus continue to receive support, along with a director’s cut for Hogwarts Legacy currently in development.
Zaslav stated that the company has overcome some of the worst moments in the video gaming business, and a more focused approach could stabilize this area, rather than continuing to attempt to launch a large number of titles simultaneously. Regarding MultiVersus, it was announced that the game's fourth season will begin on November 12 and will include Marceline from Adventure Time and Raven from DC, with Raven being one of the characters available from the start of the season and Marceline added later. Additionally, a new arena mode will be introduced where players will team up in pairs, competing in a total of eight teams, along with the creation of two new maps.
Despite the discouraging results, Warner Bros. Discovery remains committed to the development of MultiVersus and recently acquired the developer Player First Games in order to collaborate more closely on this fighting game.