Warner Bros. Discovery Restructures Games Division to Focus on ‘Harry Potter,' ‘Game of Thrones,' DC and ‘Mortal Kombat' IP

Yahoo

4 days ago

Warner Bros. Discovery is restructuring its games division to focus on four of its core IP's: Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, DC and Mortal Kombat.
As part of the move, Warner Bros. Games Montréal studio head Yves Lachance, NetherRealm studio head Shaun Himmerick and Warner Bros. Games New York studio chief Steven Flenory have all been promoted to senior vice presidents.
Lachance will oversee the development teams working on the 'Harry Potter' and 'Game of Thrones' games, Himmerick will oversee the teams working on 'Mortal Kombat' and DC games and Flenory will oversee the teams behind game and publishing technology, customer service, quality assurance and user research. The trio will report to WBD global streaming & games CEO JB Perrette.
'Our company is home to some of the biggest franchises in the world, and we are optimizing our team structure to develop long-term franchise roadmaps to delight players and fans of 'Harry Potter,' 'Game of Thrones,' 'Mortal Kombat' and DC games,' Perrette said in a statement. 'We are very fortunate to have a strong stable of development and technology talent, and Yves, Shaun and Steven are respected leaders with excellent track records in their areas of expertise. I'm looking forward to working closely with them and the team as we work to make the best games possible for our key franchises.'
The new leadership structure follows the departure of former games chief David Haddad in January.
The restructuring comes after games revenue dropped 48% during WBD's first quarter of 2025 due to no new releases during the period, compared to the release of 'Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League' in the prior year period, as well as higher carryover from 'Hogwarts Legacy' and 'Mortal Kombat 1' in the prior year. It also comes as the David Zaslav-led media giant is gearing up for a split of its global linear networks and studios and streaming businesses in mid-2026.
In addition to Warner Bros. Games, the studios and streaming business will house Warner Bros. Television Group, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, DC Studios, HBO and HBO Max, Warner Bros. Tours, Retail and Experiences, as well as studio production facilities in Burbank and Leavesden.
Executives have said that the streaming business is on track to generate at least $1.3 billion in profit by the end of 2025 and reach at least 150 million streaming subscribers by the end of 2026, which it plans to achieve through a combination of expanding Max internationally, strategic distribution partnerships and driving higher penetration of its ad-supported tier. Meanwhile, the studios business is targeting at least $3 billion in annual profit, with a specific timeline for achieving that remaining unclear.
Global Networks will include CNN, TNT Sports in the U.S., Discovery, top free-to-air channels across Europe, Discovery+ and Bleacher Report (B/R). It will retain a 20% stake in the studios and streaming business to help the company deleverage and is expected to take the majority of WBD's roughly $37 billion in gross debt.
The post Warner Bros. Discovery Restructures Games Division to Focus on 'Harry Potter,' 'Game of Thrones,' DC and 'Mortal Kombat' IP appeared first on TheWrap.