Amid a 41 percent YoY decline in games revenue in the second quarter of 2024, the commercial disaster that was Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and reported layoffs, Warner Bros. needs a hit. And the publisher is reportedly looking at the Hogwarts Legacy sequel to deliver it for them. A follow up to the highest selling game of 2023 is one of the biggest priorities for the studio, a Warner Bros. Discovery executive said this week.
Hogwarts Legacy Sequel 'One of the Biggest Priorities' at WB
Speaking at a conference Wednesday (via Variety), Warner Bros. Discovery's chief financial officer Gunnar Wiedenfels said that a direct sequel to Hogwarts Legacy was a goal for the studio in the coming years.
“Obviously, a successor to ‘Hogwarts Legacy' is one of the biggest priorities in a couple of years down the road,” Wiedenfels reportedly said at the Bank of America's 2024 Media, Communications & Entertainment Conference. “So there is certainly a significant growth contribution from that [games] business in our strategic outlook here,” he added.
It's no surprise Warner Bros. Is setting high expectations with the Hogwarts Legacy sequel. The Wizarding World game from Avalanche Software was the biggest hit of 2023, selling over 22 million copies by the end of the year. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment president David Haddad had claimed earlier this year that the game sold two million copies during the Christmas holiday season alone.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Underwhelmed
Warner Bros. Games, however, has struggled to replicate — or even come near — that kind of success with its subsequent releases. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, the studio's tentpole triple-A launch this year, was a critical and commercial failure that led to the company taking a $200 million loss. “Games revenue declined significantly due to the success of Hogwarts Legacy in the prior year quarter, while this year's Q1 release of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League generated significantly lower revenues,” Warner Bros. said in its Q1 2024 earnings report.
In the second quarter of this year, Warner Bros. reported that its games revenue declined 41 percent YoY, primarily due to the weak performance of Suicide Squad. A live service looter-shooter, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League launched to middling reviews and low player interest from the outset. Players criticised the game's live service model, especially since developer Rocksteady is known for its high-quality single-player games from the Batman Arkham series.
In his latest comments, Wiedenfels also reportedly acknowledged that Suicide Squad was a “miss.”
Earlier this week, WB launched Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions, another Wizarding World title focussed on the magical sport from the world of Harry Potter, across PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series S/X.
