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[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

There have been a lot of hints lately that the “games as a service” bubble is bursting – Bungie badly missing its Destiny revenue targets, Sony delaying half their live-service titles, Epic admitting they’ve been losing money, to name just a few – but it seems some publishers haven’t got the memo just yet. Case in point, Warner Bros. Discovery recently released their earnings, and CEO David Zaslav says the goal is to double down on GaaS.

“And similar to the leaders in the industry, we've led with multiple key franchises, each of which is $1 billion gaming property. Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, DC, which is mainly Batman today, and Mortal Kombat, whose most recent release, Mortal Kombat 1 has sold nearly 3 million copies since its launch in mid-September. So we've got the proven IP and franchises, the world class studios and publishing talent and we intend to continue to invest more capital and more resources into the business.

Our focus is on transforming our biggest franchises from largely console and PC based with three-four year release schedules to include more always on gameplay through live services, multiplatform and free-to-play extensions with the goal to have more players spending more time on more platforms. Ultimately we want to drive engagement and monetization of longer cycles and at higher levels. We have specific capabilities. We are currently under scale and see significant opportunity to generate greater post-purchase revenue.”

So yeah, if you were hoping Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was delayed in order to remove it’s live-service elements, well… keep hoping. Additionally, you can probably expect all sorts of delicious monetization in future WB titles. Case in point, a Monolith Productions job ad for their upcoming Wonder Woman game lists “helping maintain a live software product or game” as an important skill. On the plus side, the ad also reconfirms the Nemesis system will be returning.

The games industry moves slowly, and it’s probably going to take a while before they get this live service stuff – at least the currently-popular approach to it – out of their systems. Hopefully, not too many talented developers end up wasting their efforts on a dying model in the meantime, but I’m afraid that may be the case with WB Interactive.

Wonder Woman Game to be Live Service Hints Job Ads as WB Vows to Double Down on GaaS

The live-service model seems to be in decline, but Warner Bros. Discovery and the makers of the new Wonder Woman didn't get the memo.

wccftech.com

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

Because Suicide Squad is gonna be so darn successful based on how it’s been received after the unveil, so let’s double down on that??

Yikes.

Goodbye, WB having good games

 

[LordCBH]

Looks like I’m not playing it then. These fuckers will have to learn the hard way.

 

[Fake]

WTF do a Wonder Woman game have to do with Game as A Service?

Good lord...

 

[Fabieter]

Iam not against gaas but for me to to actually try most gaas is has to be f2p

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Men_in_Boxes Thoughts on WB Games possibly going all in on the GaaS model?

 

[analog_future]

If that's the case, it's DOA

 

[SolidQ]

If real, then another dead game

 

[mansoor1980]

a woman providing live services for a price.......................................sounds wonderful

 

[SJRB]

 

[U n i o n 0015]

Y'all be hating but I am going to enjoy the shit out of watching all these games bomb.

 

[Madflavor]

So Wonder Woman is finally getting a video game. A big video game. And they're going to infect it with Live Service bullshit?

Awesome. Gotta love corporate greed.

 

[GermanZepp]

oh this is going to end well... can't wait to play a wonder woman game (said no one ever)

 

[YCoCg]

WB is just on a suicide course right now so they can scrap everything and call it a tax write off.

 

[Stafford]

You'd think after the great success of Hogwarts Legacy that they would stick with some SP stuff, wtf is you doing WB?

 

[lh032]

wonder women AAA porn game lets go.

 

[SEGAvangelist]

This is gonna be a real shit show, isn't it...

 

[tusharngf]

 

[Represent.]

He’s gotta be the most hated CEO in entertainment.

In movies, this guy is cancelling quality, fully made movies before they even release. Literally cancelling movies as tax write offs.

In gaming, he’s doubling down on GAAS trash. Monetization on everything.

 

[Mitsurugi Reiji]

 

[Sleepwalker]

Im still mildly optimistic that there's gonna be a good game here with the nemesis system.

 

[yurinka]

I think this game may flop pretty hard

 

[TheCed]

Nice !!!

I'm out

 

[sloppyjoe_gamer]

Hopefully this steamrolls to their predatory tactics in gaming too

 

[MiguelItUp]

Shame that Wonder Woman hasn't really ever had her own great games, now she could be getting one and it's littered with GaaS apparently. That's a shame, lol. I mean, she's not a hugely popular super hero anyway, but this would just put the nail in the coffin I feel.

 

[SimTourist]

 

[winjer]

Funny to see so many companies betting on GaaS, with the market saturated and so many games failing miserably.

 

[Lucie Goosey]

Iam not against gaas but for me to to actually try most gaas is has to be f2p

This. This is where I'm at with the whole thing.

I've finally kicked my WoW addiction. I've purchased one battle pass for Halo Infinite. I'm waiting on a Sasuke or Geralt skin for my first in Fortnite, and I will never pay full price for a Diablo again if their just going to do a live service game with it.

I've learned my lesson.

 

[skit_data]

WB working hard on burning whatever momentum they built up with Hogwarts and MK1

 

[Skifi28]

Can't wait to buy a few swimsuits to dress her up!

If that's the case, it's DOA

Yeah, exactly like Dead or Alive!

 

[tkscz]

Zazlav needs to stick to TV shows. He clearly has no idea how to run video games or movies.

 

[Deerock71]

a woman providing live services for a price.......................................sounds wonderful

 

[Lucifers Beard]

Worked well for Gotham Knights, right? Suicide Squad looks like it's going to be just as monumental of a failure too. Fucking idiots.

 

[mitch1971]

WTF do a Wonder Woman game have to do with Game as A Service?

Good lord...

Girls As A Service?

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

What a debut for Wonder Woman in the world of video games, with a trash service

 

[arkhamguy123]

I’ve lived long enough and into the worst era of art and entertainment to see corporate greed absolutely ruin just about everything I enjoyed growing up

Sad

 

[Heisenberg007]

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Men_in_Boxes Thoughts on WB Games possibly going all in on the GaaS model?

Oh I got a f***ing answer and you're not going to like it!

My initial response was: "WB has all these big IP that work really well with single player gamers. They should just make a bunch of AAA single player games using that IP.

After 15 seconds: "WB already knows this and they STILL think the safer bet is Live Service.

There's a loooot of people who don't get what's happening right now. It's very possible even I underestimated the importance of Live Service going forward.

 

[arkhamguy123]

There's a loooot of people who don't get what's happening right now. It's very possible even I underestimated the importance of Live Service going forward.

Elaborate

 

[Chastten]

Got no issues with GAAS as long as the game itself is free to download and play. Let me play it for some time and if I'm enjoying myself, I got no issues with spending some money on an monhtly pass or whatever.

Sadly, that is probably not gonna be the case

 

[Dacvak]

I feel so bad for the developers and talent at these studios. Can you imagine the next 3-5 years of your creatively-driven career being dictated by like seven old white dudes who have never played a game in their lives? And now you're forced to create something that has no soul, that you know is absolutely destined to fail. It's gotta feel bad.

 

[Topher]

Men_in_Boxes Thoughts on WB Games possibly going all in on the GaaS model?

You didn't really need to ask, did you?

 

[-Zelda-]

 

[rhodesianshepard]

Does WB have a talented studio outside Rocksteady? Even Rocksteady probably isn't considered an elite studio anymore

 

[sloppyjoe_gamer]

I feel so bad for the developers and talent at these studios. Can you imagine the next 3-5 years of your creatively-driven career being dictated by like seven old white dudes who have never played a game in their lives? And now you're forced to create something that has no soul, that you know is absolutely destined to fail. It's gotta feel bad.

 

[fatmarco]

Surely the numbers dont make sense for Live service gambles at this point? Is the plan for WB really to throw away 200 million - 300 million dollars per Live Service game until one of them lands?

Are they really expecting Wonder Woman to not only succeed where Gotham Knights and Suicide Squad failed, but also recoup the costs for both those games AND beyond that make a profit?

 

[StereoVsn]

WB working hard on burning whatever momentum they built up with Hogwarts and MK1

Chances are Hogwarts 2 will be GaaS as well at this juncture.

 

[arkhamguy123]

I feel so bad for the developers and talent at these studios. Can you imagine the next 3-5 years of your creatively-driven career being dictated by like seven old white dudes who have never played a game in their lives? And now you're forced to create something that has no soul, that you know is absolutely destined to fail. It's gotta feel bad.

Did you see the rocksteady devs in the infamous SS showcase or whatever that was so badly received it got the game delayed?

Genuinely awful. You could just tell there is no passion. I felt bad for all of them. It was just so fake. You watch the Arkham behind the scenes videos and it’s night and day

 

[Luipadre]

So monolith goes after rocksteady into the dump, nice. Thats 2 great dev team flushed down the toilet because of corporate greed

 

[GymWolf]

Imagine wasting the nemesys system on a fucking wonder woman gaas...