If the last decade has taught us anything, it's that live service game development is the industry's equivalent of high stakes gambling, where publishers ante up millions of dollars in the hopes that their game might hit the jackpot of becoming a lifestyle like Fortnite and Roblox. But as we've seen from countless failed launches, almost nobody hits the jackpot. When even Destiny 2 is having a hard time maintaining its place as a forever game fixture, the bet seems like a bad one.
Warner Bros., however, has apparently never met a gambler's fallacy it didn't like. Despite losing a combined $300 million dollars with Suicide Squad: Kill the Jusitce League and Multiversus, a new job posting indicates that WB Games is once again chasing the live service dream (via Eurogamer).
The listing is for an executive producer position at Gotham Knights developer and Suicide Squad support studio WB Games Montreal. In the job description, Warner Bros. says the executive producer "will lead the development of a high-quality AAA game based on one of the iconic IPs from the vast Warner Bros. and DC Comics catalog."
The listing doesn't tell us what IP the unannounced game will be based on (given WB Montreal's oeuvre, I wouldn't blame you for speculating it'll be something in the larger Batmanosphere). But based on the following job responsibilities specified in the listing, we get a clear picture of what kind of game Warner Bros. has in mind:
- Oversee all phases of development, from concept to post-launch live operations.
- Oversee post-launch content and live service strategy, ensuring ongoing player engagement.
Additionally, the posting lists "deep understanding of the full game development lifecycle, including live services" under its preferred qualifications.
Reports from February seemed to indicate that Warner's live service fever might be breaking, as sources said Rocksteady was looking to return to its Arkham roots with a singleplayer Batman production. Evidently, that pivot shifted the live service obligations to WB Games Montreal, which had contributed additional development work on Suicide Squad after being pulled from a Flash game that sources say was scrapped in 2023.
It's worth noting that Suicide Squad's flop led to 99 layoffs at WB Games Montreal in December 2024. While those layoffs primarily affected QA subcontractors from Keywords, it does feel pretty grim to know the studio's handling the next live service gambit when it hasn't even been a year since Warner's last blunder led to its bloodletting.
But hey. Maybe third time's the charm.
