Warner Bros. Discovery has released fourth-quarter and full-year 2023 results, noting its latest game releases, “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League”failed to meet the company’s expectations.
Warner Chief Financial Officer Gunnar Wiedenfels said that because of this, the company’s gaming business will be “tough year-over-year” in the first quarter of 2024. Wiedenfels highlighted the same period as the 2023 release of Hogwarts Legacy, saying the wizarding action-RPG had a “very positive financial impact” on Warner’s first quarter (thanks to Seeking Alpha).
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League – Official Game Launch Trailer – “Do the Impossible”
“There are several things for the studio division to consider in the next quarter. We are pleased with the launch of Hogwarts Legacy last February, which had a very positive financial impact in the first quarter,” Wiedenfels said.
“This year, one of our key video game releases in 2024, Suicide Squad, has not met our expectations since its release earlier in the quarter, leaving our games business to face a difficult year-over-year situation in the first quarter. .”
The game may not have performed as expected, in part due to late reviews, as well as login and server issues that led to a shaky launch. While Rocksteady has ironed out most of the issues, things aren’t perfect as some users are still reporting issues logging into the game – an issue the studio says it will continue to address.
Players encountered obstacles in other areas. Some attempts at hacking missions faced endless loading screens, others faced multiplayer login issues, and the mastery system also encountered issues, with progress tracking and rewards glitches. However, with upcoming patches, these challenges and more are being improved, paving the way for a smoother, more rewarding experience.
While the game hasn’t performed as well as Warners hoped (and received mediocre reviews from critics), it was just released on January 30, less than a month after it was released.
In the U.S., “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League” debuted at No. 3 in January, according to consumer analytics firm Circana (NPD). For a new game that’s only been out for a few days, that’s not a bad result compared to the top-ranked Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2023) and the highly anticipated Tekken 8.
Plus, this is also a live service game. Games like this thrive on constant evolution. Regular updates bring a fresh experience, injecting narrative, events, characters, and bonus items. With Killing the Justice League, you can expect upcoming content that will delve deeper into the DC Multiverse and its iconic heroes and villains over four planned seasons.
March marks the arrival of Season One, bringing the Joker into the game, a character who will have his own unique story content that can be fully unlocked through free play.
Additionally, Season 1 includes new boss fights and enemy variants, new DC villain-themed weapons and equipment, additional playable environments, new activities and strongholds, new riddle content, two episodes, and more. The number of invasion missions will increase from three to six, with people only needing to play three of the six to increase the level of mastery they unlock.
Future content for Seasons 2-4 includes three additional characters and playable environments, meaning players can look forward to a new character and environment each season, as well as additional gear, weapons, mid-season updates and more.
This additional content can help the game become more popular, thereby increasing game sales due to changes in public perception. Hopefully Warner realizes the potential ahead and the company’s expectations can be realized soon.