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Warner

Warner Bros. Games restructures leadership team following new focus on Game of Thrones, DC, Harry Potter, and Mortal Kombat

by admin June 18, 2025

Warner Bros. Games has undergone a drastic shift among its leadership, as part of the company’s refocus on major IPs like Mortal Kombat, Harry Potter, DC, and Game of Thrones.

According to Variety, three studio heads were promoted to senior vice president positions. These include NetherRealm’s Shaun Himmerick, Warner Bros. Games New York’s Steven Flenory, and Warner Bros. Games Montreal’s Yves Lachance.

Himmerick is now in charge of both Mortal Kombat and DC games, Lachance is handling Harry Potter and Game of Thrones, while Flenory is left with game and publishing technology, customer service, quality assurance and user research.

Recently a trailer for Game of Thrones: War for Westeros was revealed at Summer Game Fest. Check it out here!Watch on YouTube

The trio will now report to Warner Bros. Discovery’s CEO of games and global streaming, while all teams under the Warner Bros. umbrella will now be reporting directly to these new vice presidents.

Variety confirmed no layoffs are attached with this shift. This is in stark contrast to Rocksteady, developer of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and part of the Warner Bros. Discovery collection of studios, which suffered significant layoffs in January 2025.

Warner also recently closed Monolith, Player First Games, and Warner Bros. Games San Diego as part of what the company called a “strategic change in direction”. Back in March it was reported by Bloomberg a major expansion to Hogwarts Legacy was cancelled, and MultiVersus officially got its final update earlier this year. Even Mortal Kombat wasn’t sheltered from this hardship, suddenly announcing an end to major updates in May despite prior statements from Ed Boon that the game would have a longer life ahead of it.

So what does this mean for future games from Warner Bros. Games? Well we know a sequel to Hogwarts Legacy is coming, a game that proved exceptionally popular for Warner Bros. and a jewel in its crown ever since.

We also saw Game of Thrones: War for Westeros announced at Summer Game Fest, an RTS set to launch next year. These will prove to be the first examples of games created under the umbrella of Warner Bros. Games’ new direction, and a tone setter for what’s to come. DC Boss James Gunn stated in February he was discussing the development of games using the IP with Rocksteady and NetherRealm. Injustice 3, anyone?

It’s clear Warner Bros. Games is in a bad state. Its lack of game releases resulted in a 48 percent drop in game revenue last quarter, and it has unceremoniously kicked hundreds of developers out the door. The company is in desperate need of a win. Whether or not this shift can lead to an end to what has been a hellish decade for the media giant’s gaming aspirations remains to be seen.

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June 18, 2025 0 comments

Esports

Warner Bros. Games promotes three studio heads as it focuses on four key properties

by admin June 18, 2025

Warner Bros. Games has confirmed a new leadership structure as it follows its previously revealed strategy of developing games based on the Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Mortal Kombat, and DC Comics properties.

Three studio heads have been promoted into senior vice president roles, per Variety. Montréal studio head Yves Lachance will be SVP of development on Harry Potter and Game of Thrones-related games.

Shaun Himmerick, studio head of Mortal Kombat developer NetherRealm, will be SVP of development for both that series and games based on DC Comics. Warner previously indicated that “top-tier characters like Batman” were a focus area for DC-related games.

Finally, Warner Bros. Games New York studio chief Steven Flenory will be SVP of central tech & services, with a focus on game and publishing technology, QA, user research and customer service.

All three will report to JB Perrette, CEO of global streaming and games.

“We are very fortunate to have a strong stable of development and technology talent, and Yves, Shaun and Steven are respected leaders with excellent track records in their areas of expertise,” said Perrette in a statement.

“I’m looking forward to working closely with them and the team as we work to make the best games possible for our key franchises.”

Parent company Warner Bros. Discovery recently revealed plans to split into two companies: Streaming & Studios, which includes its gaming business, and Global Networks, which is largely focused on its legacy TV business and will carry the “bulk” of its $37 billion debt.

No layoffs or executive exits have been made as part of the changes, according to Variety.

Warner Bros. Games president David Haddad exited the company back in January. Variety notes it’s unclear if the company is seeking a replacement for his role.

The company also confirmed it was shutting down three studios in February, including long-running studio Monolith Productions, which resulted in the cancellation of its Wonder Woman game.

Rocksteady Studios – best known for the highly-rated singleplayer Batman: Arkham games, before spending nearly a decade making multiplayer game Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League – made multiple rounds of layoffs following that project missing its financial targets upon release in 2024.

Rocksteady co-founders Sefton Hill and Jamie Walker left the studio in October 2022, before the game was released.

Warner Bros. Games previously took a $300 million+ writedown on its games business in 2024, which led to the decision to restructure around proven properties.

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June 18, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

Warner Bros. Discovery Is Splitting Into Two Companies (Again)

by admin June 9, 2025

Just three years after they first merged, Warner Bros. Discovery is separating off into two different companies in an attempt to carve away the lucrative studio and streaming sections of the company from its struggling networks.

“The cultural significance of this great company and the impactful stories it has brought to life for more than a century have touched countless people all over the world. It’s a treasured legacy we will proudly continue in this next chapter of our celebrated history,” Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said in a statement (via Variety). “By operating as two distinct and optimized companies in the future, we are empowering these iconic brands with the sharper focus and strategic flexibility they need to compete most effectively in today’s evolving media landscape.”

For those who love frequently reading news about unpopular industry decisions, Zaslav will continue to lead one of the two companies–neither of which have new names quite yet–primarily focused around WBD’s streaming and studio assets, including the Warner Bros. TV and movie studios (including the likes of DC Studios, and so on), HBO, and the newly-rechristened HBO Max, as well as the company’s video game and experience divisions. WBD CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels will lead the new network company, which will include the myriad non-Warner TV brands and their associated streaming platforms, including CNN, Discovery (and Discovery+), TNT Sports, and Discovery’s international TV channels.

The move comes after much of the last three years were spent by the streaming side of things largely cannibalizing the struggling network side, and a series of broad cuts and controversial decisions to try and mitigate the losses caused there. Although the public-about face on decisions like re-renaming HBO’s streaming platform might have caused a good deal of mockery recently, Warner Bros has found some strong successes lately as it reverts back to focusing on the premium nature of brands like HBO with the successes of shows like The Last of Us, House of the Dragon, White Lotus, and The Pitt earlier this year, and ahead of the relaunch of the DC cinematic universe with James Gunn’s Superman next month, things are looking up at the box office as well.

Subject to closing, the split is expected to go through by the middle of 2026.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

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June 9, 2025 0 comments