Warner Bros. Games has undergone a drastic shift among its leadership, as part of the company’s refocus on major IPs like Mortal Kombat, Harry Potter, DC, and Game of Thrones.
According to Variety, three studio heads were promoted to senior vice president positions. These include NetherRealm’s Shaun Himmerick, Warner Bros. Games New York’s Steven Flenory, and Warner Bros. Games Montreal’s Yves Lachance.
Himmerick is now in charge of both Mortal Kombat and DC games, Lachance is handling Harry Potter and Game of Thrones, while Flenory is left with game and publishing technology, customer service, quality assurance and user research.
The trio will now report to Warner Bros. Discovery’s CEO of games and global streaming, while all teams under the Warner Bros. umbrella will now be reporting directly to these new vice presidents.
Variety confirmed no layoffs are attached with this shift. This is in stark contrast to Rocksteady, developer of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and part of the Warner Bros. Discovery collection of studios, which suffered significant layoffs in January 2025.
Warner also recently closed Monolith, Player First Games, and Warner Bros. Games San Diego as part of what the company called a “strategic change in direction”. Back in March it was reported by Bloomberg a major expansion to Hogwarts Legacy was cancelled, and MultiVersus officially got its final update earlier this year. Even Mortal Kombat wasn’t sheltered from this hardship, suddenly announcing an end to major updates in May despite prior statements from Ed Boon that the game would have a longer life ahead of it.
So what does this mean for future games from Warner Bros. Games? Well we know a sequel to Hogwarts Legacy is coming, a game that proved exceptionally popular for Warner Bros. and a jewel in its crown ever since.
We also saw Game of Thrones: War for Westeros announced at Summer Game Fest, an RTS set to launch next year. These will prove to be the first examples of games created under the umbrella of Warner Bros. Games’ new direction, and a tone setter for what’s to come. DC Boss James Gunn stated in February he was discussing the development of games using the IP with Rocksteady and NetherRealm. Injustice 3, anyone?
It’s clear Warner Bros. Games is in a bad state. Its lack of game releases resulted in a 48 percent drop in game revenue last quarter, and it has unceremoniously kicked hundreds of developers out the door. The company is in desperate need of a win. Whether or not this shift can lead to an end to what has been a hellish decade for the media giant’s gaming aspirations remains to be seen.
