Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League’s “Disappointing” Release Led To A $200 Million Shortfall For Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. Discovery has once again commented on Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s financial performance, which came in below expectations. CEO David Zaslav said during a briefing, as reported by VGC, that the poor performance of Kill the Justice League brought down the company’s entire Studios division, which encompasses not just games but also the film and TV divisions.

Zaslav said Kill the Justice League had a “disappointing” release, going on to note that this latest quarter was always going to be a tough one due to comparisons to last year. That’s because Hogwarts Legacy was released in February 2023 and went on to put up massive sales numbers. In fact, Hogwarts Legacy was the best-selling game overall in the US for the entirety of 2023, beating out even Call of Duty: MW3.

Warner Bros. Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels put things into perspective further, saying the difference in financial performance between Hogwarts Legacy and Kill the Justice League led to a “$200 million impact” to the company’s bottom line during the quarter.

Back in February, during the previous earnings call, Wiedenfels alluded to tough times to come, saying the poor performance of Kill the Justice League would be “setting our games business up for a tough year-over-year comp.”

Expectations were high for Kill the Justice League, which was made by Rocksteady Games, but the game didn’t resonate and, at least on PC, player figures have dropped dramatically.

In the wake of Kill the Justice League’s poor performance, Warner Bros. Discovery’s gaming boss J.B. Perrette has said the company will focus on core franchises and bring at least some of them to the mobile and free-to-play space, as well as continue to invest in live-service games that people play–and spend money on–over a long period of time. “Rather than just launching a one-and-done console game, how do we develop a game around, for example, a Hogwarts Legacy or Harry Potter, that is a live-service where people can live and work and build and play in that world in an ongoing basis?” he said.

Some of WBD’s upcoming video games include a Harry Potter Quidditch game and a Wonder Woman title from the makers of Shadow of Mordor.