Trying to do the same thing and expecting different results is often defined as insanity, but for Warner Bros. Games, there's no stopping their love for live-service titles.
If the latest job listing at Warner Bros. Games Montreal is used as an indicator, the studio is looking for an Executive Producer to lead the development of a high-quality AAA game. The description makes two things clear: the project will be based on IP from the DC Comics catalog, and will include post-launch live operations.
Of course, it would be taking a punt at this point to guess what the mystery upcoming project looks like, but I am quite sure it will be yet another live-service title. That's no surprise given the recent trend, but it seems that Warner Bros. Games is hoping to believe in the adage of "third time's the charm".
Warner Bros. Games will have to get plenty of things right with their new live service title
The recent days of Warner Bros. Games haven't been smooth, and more so for their Montreal branch. December of last year witnessed the laying off of almost 100 developers after Gotham Knights failed to kick off (not a live-service title, but WB tried to follow a different path from the older Arkham titles).
Perhaps the biggest failure that comes to my mind is the somewhat expected fate of Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League. Rocksteady has a rich pedigree when it comes to game development. Unfortunately, they decided on going for a live-service approach that simply failed to materialize into success. The game might still be online, but it has already received its final content update.
Monolith's Wonder Woman, which could have been a fresh change, got canceled earlier this year. The reason was simple: strategic change of direction. However, the new direction doesn't seem to be very different from what we expect.
Sure, Warner Bros. Games has released two new games: DC Dark Legion and DC Worlds Collide. Both titles are mobile games, filled with microtransactions, and the latter is an idle gacha. Sure, they're cute and fun, but are they what the fans truly want at this point?
I would have been happier to see them go back to the old days of AAA, but offline titles. Nobody minds a few post-launch DLC and expansions, but live service seems to bring them success on the mobile platforms alone. Finding success on PC and console is different, and Suicide Squad's failure proves that to an extent.
If Warner Bros. Games doesn't want to repeat the mistakes of the past, they (and their new Executive Producer) will have to do a lot more than rely on "third time's the charm". Only time will tell how the new project turns out, and whether it can bring success to an entity that recorded a 41% drop in gaming revenue last year.
The post Warner Bros. Games bets on third time’s the charm with another potential live service title appeared first on Destructoid.
