Warner Bros. closing Monolith Productions is the end of an era – so what comes next?

I grew up playing Monolith Productions' games, so news that this 30 year old developer is being closed for a "strategic change in direction" is another kick in the teeth to anyone who loves creative, technical games and design.

Monolith joins other studio closures since Covid, and it's why many devs opted for Unreal Engine 5 and launching smaller, niche game studios. And why many artists are picking up the best game development software and making smaller, interesting games. So what's going on?

While I came a little late to Monolith, with the first game of their's I played was 2000's The Operative: No One Lives Forever, in recent years the developer behind F.E.A.R., Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and the now cancelled Wonder Woman has continued to deliver great games. But, Wonder Woman was in development for seven years and by all accounts changed cause multiple times, likely as a result the poor performance of Suicide Squad Kill The Justice League and a push to jump on the live games trend.

In a statement to Polygon, a WB Games spokesperson said: "We 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. After careful consideration, we are closing three of our development studios – Monolith Productions, Player First Games and Warner Bros. Games San Diego. This is a strategic change in direction and not a reflection of these teams or the talent that consists within them."

Polygon has also shared extracts from an email from JB Perrette - Warner Bros. Discovery's CEO and president of global streaming and games - that was sent to employees that stresses the company's need to focus on “fewer but bigger franchises” and "regain our credibility and swagger at producing great games".

The upshot is WB Games will focus on stable franchises, particularly Harry Potter, Mortal Kombat, DC and Game of Thrones, but this raises questions about the brand's desire to be creative and launch new IP and franchises, and experiment with new ideas, tech and design.

Under WB Games' new direction something as creative as Monolith's Nemesis System, which revolutionised narrative design, could never be used again, as it gets trapped behind the studio closure and its patent is held by WB Games until 2036. The Nemesis System tracked player interactions with Uruk in Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and its sequel, and NPC AI would remember and react to a player's treatment of them.

So here we are, another legacy developer being closed, possibly because of a desire to chase a trend like live service games, at the moment gamers are returning to single-player, narrative games like Indiana Jones and the Golden Circle.

What comes next for WB Games, but also for other large game studios, is going to be very interesting. The length of time it's taken to make and never release Wonder Woman, as well as Suicide Kill The Justice League, shows how trends come and go and titles miss their moment.

Is the future of game development to make smaller, focused titles and can indies survive where larger studios fail? Will generative AI help or hinder how games are made, and ease costs and production, to ensure games release timely? The future of game development and design is going to be very interesting, it's just a shame the devs at Monolith, a team renowned for marrying game design to technology, won't be there in the form we've all known and loved.

What do you think? Has Monolith been unfairly treated? Let us know in the comments section below.