WB Games Bets Big on 2027 Revival With Major Franchises

Warner Bros. Discovery is banking on a handful of blockbuster releases to turn around its gaming division, but questions remain about whether its current studio lineup can deliver on its ambitious recovery plan.

Warner Bros. Games seems to be entering a critical phase, with the corporation identifying 2027 and 2028 as the years that could change its game business. According to past comments from Warner Bros. Discovery leadership, those two years should be when investments in game production start to pay off, with the publisher returning to some of its biggest and most famous brands.

The most visible project leading that charge is Hogwarts Legacy 2, a game that’s widely expected to become the company’s flagship release. However, banking on a single blockbuster seems implausible, given the publisher's repeated references to numerous major releases that will contribute to its financial turnaround. Warner Bros. Games arguably needs more than one sequel in the mix to turn around recent problems.

This raises an essential question about the publisher's existing development capacity.

Warner Bros. Games has comparatively few in-house studios compared to other large publishers. The studio still owns several renowned developers, although only a few are responsible for the franchises that most gamers associate with the publisher.

This smaller roster has led to speculation that licensing its valuable intellectual property to outside studios is a smart move. In a similar vein to Marvel's efforts to build out its gaming presence through partnerships with a variety of developers, Warner Bros. could make more money and keep franchises alive by allowing external teams to develop games based on DC Comics, Harry Potter, and other key brands.

Warner Bros. Games now operates studios including Avalanche Software, NetherRealm Studios, Rocksteady Studios, Traveler's Tales, WB Games Montréal, WB Games Boston, WB Games New York, and WB Games San Francisco. That sounds like a lot on paper, but very few of them are behind significant console and PC releases.

The remaining studios are mostly mobile-focused or support work. WB Games Boston, for example, is most recognized for mobile titles like Game of Thrones: Kingsroad and “Batman: Arkham Underworld,” with other internal teams providing technical support rather than spearheading tentpole projects.

The studio has also trimmed its portfolio in recent years following closures and a reorganization. 

Monolith Productions and the other studios are not part of Warner Bros. Games' future, nor is Player First Games, the studio behind MultiVersus. Those changes leave the publisher with a reduced pool of developers capable of making AAA releases.

Interestingly, Warner Bros. has previously shown a readiness to work with outside companies. Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions is an example of the firm letting another developer build a game for one of its largest franchises, an increasingly significant approach if Warner Bros. wants to release more games without overburdening its main studios.

Avalanche Software is the clearest about its roadmap for the remaining developers, with Hogwarts Legacy 2 as the studio's next big project. Given the original game's huge commercial success, expectations for the sequel are very high indeed.

NetherRealm Studios is another essential pillar of Warner Bros.’ future aspirations. Now that Mortal Kombat 1 is behind us, industry speculation remains strong that the studio’s next release will be either Injustice 3 or another DC-themed fighting game. Nothing formal has been announced, but a new fighting game would make sense in the publisher’s expected release schedule.

Rocksteady Studios has a less certain situation.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was a disappointment, and indications claim the developer may be back to work on Batman. However, due to the lengthy development cycles of AAA games, it will be challenging to launch a completely new Batman title until 2029.

Traveler’s Tales is one of the most trustworthy developers for Warner Bros. due to its LEGO releases. The studio is known for its economically successful family-friendly fare, but it’s unlikely to roll out a high-profile title right behind its latest release. In the next couple of years, we're more likely to see ongoing DLC support for it than a brand new LEGO adventure.

WB Games Montréal continues to play a significant supporting role in several Warner Bros. productions. In addition to Gotham Knights, the firm has also worked on Hogwarts Legacy, Mortal Kombat, Suicide Squad, LEGO Batman, and LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. It hasn't made many standalones, but its flexibility makes it one of the publisher's most essential support teams.

There are several studios, but Warner Bros. Games’ future seems to be mainly leaning on the Harry Potter franchise. Hogwarts Legacy was one of the best-selling games of the last few years, and its sequel could be the most important game the publisher has coming up. If Hogwarts Legacy 2 comes in 2027 or 2028, it could be the financial boon Warner Bros. is after. If the sequel is anything like its predecessor, the publisher may not even need a blockbuster that same year.

Even with more reasonable projections, the game may comfortably sell between 10 and 15 million copies, a sum that would rank among the industry's largest annual triumphs.

It would be hard to match the original's incredible sales over its lifetime, but the sequel would likely still be one of the year's best-selling products. The main worry is depth. Traveler's Tales is unlikely to deliver another major title before the end of the decade. At the same time, Rocksteady's next Batman project may just require longer development time than Warner Bros.' recovery plan permits.

That leaves Avalanche, NetherRealm, and probably WB Games Montréal as the studios most capable of producing meaningful releases over the crucial 2027-2028 era. A scenario containing a new DC fighting game in one year, followed by Hogwarts Legacy 2 the next, now appears to be the publisher's most likely path toward recovery.

Ultimately, Warner Bros. Games holds some of the entertainment industry's most valuable franchises, but translating those brands into a continuous release schedule remains its toughest difficulty. Unless new projects emerge through licensing deals or unknown studios, much of the company's gaming future may depend on only a handful of blockbusters coming on time.