Warner Bros. acknowledges MultiVersus is failing to hit targets

The much-anticipated relaunch of MultiVersus this year hasn’t quite lived up to Warner Bros.’ expectations. Fans of the game have found the current version to be lacking, often saying it falls short of the early beta experience that created such a buzz. Despite the hype, MultiVersus hasn’t managed to hit its stride yet, with Warner Bros. recently confirming that their gaming division is “substantially underperforming.”

In a recent earnings call, Warner Bros. President and CEO David Zaslav acknowledged the lackluster performance, stating that their gaming segment is currently “underperforming its potential.” CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels elaborated, revealing that the company took an additional $100 million impairment loss this quarter, mainly due to MultiVersus, bringing the total write-down in their games division to a staggering $300 million. This financial strain has significantly impacted the studio’s overall profits this year.

Interestingly, Warner Bros. acquired the MultiVersus developer, Player First Games, just this past July. At the time, the team expressed optimism, saying they believed the acquisition would enhance the game. “We are working to make the MultiVersus experience the best it can be, and having our development team integrated with the publisher is optimum for the players,” they stated. However, no specific figures were released on how much Warner Bros. paid for Player First Games, so it’s unclear how much of the write-down can be linked to the acquisition.

Watching MultiVersus struggle since its beta days is disappointing for fans and the studio alike. Time and resources might be what the team needs to turn the game around, though only time will tell if Warner Bros. will commit to that investment.