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We’re only two months into 2025 and it already feels like the gaming industry is on a quest to outdo 2024 in terms of layoffs and studio closures. Following the news that the US-based Marvel Rivals development team was being laid off, Warner Bros. Games has confirmed that they are closing three of their internal studios in a “strategic change of direction” for the company.

The three studios in question are Monolith Productions, Player First Games, and Warner Bros Games San Diego. Rumors about the closure began to circulate as outlets were unofficially told about them and the webpages for the studios were abruptly redirected to the main Warner Bros Games website. Then, later on Tuesday, Warner Bros Discovery confirmed the closures, saying that they “have had to make some very difficult decisions to structure our development studios and investments around building the best games possible with our key franchises – Harry Potter, Mortal Kombat, DC and Game of Thrones.”

However, that statement was somewhat undercut by the fact that Monolith Productions had been working on a game featuring Wonder Woman (famously a big character in DC comics and films), which has now been canceled. It is also strange that Warner Bros spent a huge amount of time and money to patent the Nemesis from Monolith’s Shadow of Mordor, which saw specific foes advance in rank the more you encountered them, only to disband the studio and, apparently, do nothing with it.

There are some questions about what this means for games already released by those studios. For instance, MultiVersus by Player First Games is meant to have online functionality until May 30, 2025 – barely a year after the full version was released – but that deadline has become uncertain with the company effectively not existing anymore and with little incentive for Warner Bros Games to bother keeping the lights on.
For now, all that we know is that the job market is once again flooded with talented game devs laid off with little notice while Warner Bros Games focuses on the franchises they know will make them money. Taking fewer risks while trying to generate greater profit.

You don't need to beat the game to prepare for the next one—here are all the major new and upcoming games coming our way.