Hogwarts Legacy Sequel ‘One of the Biggest Priorities’ at WB
Speaking at a convention Wednesday (through Variety), Warner Bros. Discovery’s chief monetary officer Gunnar Wiedenfels stated {that a} direct sequel to Hogwarts Legacy was a objective for the studio within the coming years.
“Obviously, a successor to ‘Hogwarts Legacy’ is among the largest priorities in a few years down the highway,” Wiedenfels reportedly stated on the Bank of America’s 2024 Media, Communications & Entertainment Conference. “So there’s definitely a big progress contribution from that [games] enterprise in our strategic outlook right here,” he added.
It’s no shock Warner Bros. Is setting excessive expectations with the Hogwarts Legacy sequel. The Wizarding World sport from Avalanche Software was the largest hit of 2023, promoting over 22 million copies by the tip of the 12 months. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment president David Haddad had claimed earlier this 12 months that the sport offered two million copies in the course of the Christmas vacation season alone.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Underwhelmed
Warner Bros. Games, nonetheless, has struggled to duplicate — and even come close to — that type of success with its subsequent releases. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, the studio’s tentpole triple-A launch this 12 months, was a essential and business failure that led to the corporate taking a $200 million loss. “Games income declined considerably because of the success of Hogwarts Legacy within the prior 12 months quarter, whereas this 12 months’s Q1 launch of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League generated considerably decrease revenues,” Warner Bros. stated in its Q1 2024 earnings report.
In the second quarter of this 12 months, Warner Bros. reported that its video games income declined 41 p.c YoY, primarily because of the weak efficiency of Suicide Squad. A dwell service looter-shooter, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League launched to middling evaluations and low participant curiosity from the outset. Players criticised the sport’s dwell service mannequin, particularly since developer Rocksteady is understood for its high-quality single-player video games from the Batman Arkham sequence.
In his newest feedback, Wiedenfels additionally reportedly acknowledged that Suicide Squad was a “miss.”
Earlier this week, WB launched Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions, one other Wizarding World title focussed on the magical sport from the world of Harry Potter, throughout PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series S/X.
