Warner Bros Makes Move Into Game Development

Thanks to Yahoo for reprinting the press release revealing Warner Bros has created a new videogame division, headed by Monolith co-founder Jason Hall, which "will focus on the creation, development, production and distribution of games that will be marketed to consumers under the Warner Bros. Games brand." This represents a change of attitude for Warner Bros, who previously licensed titles such as Harry Potter and The Matrix for external game development, and GameSpot provides some background for the move, noting that new WBIE boss Jason Hall "...was CEO of Monolith Productions, developer of Tron 2.0 and No One Lives Forever 2... There were previous ties between the two companies, since Monolith is currently developing the Matrix MMORPG, The Matrix Online." Update: 01/15 04:22 GMT by S : Game Informer has an interview with Jason Hall about his new position, in which he hints on "...some interesting developments throughout the course of this year... things like the Harry Potter titles."

Glaring Absence

[Babbster]

It's interesting that the cited articles didn't mention two big Warner Brothers-controlled properties: Superman and Batman. Given that both of these comic book icons have been popular over the years, and that superhero videogames should be a natural, these two characters would seem to form a perfect area of focus for a new WB gaming division. This should be of particular interest to Warner given that both characters have been horribly treated by game developers in the near and distant past. Obviously, the entire DC Universe could be fodder, but if Warner could have as their debut game a good Batman and/or Superman title they could make quite a splash.

Then again, considering there are two Superman movies currently in some stage of development (a solo Superman outing and Batman vs. Superman), maybe that is WHY Warner is making this move now. Either or both of those movies could be huge, so why share any of the ancillary profits with an outside game developer?

Give Em A Chance

[blueZhift]

Call me crazy, but given the titles that Jason Hall has been a part of, this thing might just fly. I don't believe he would want to just turn out lots of licensed crap. So I think there's a good chance that we'll see some cool creative stuff, if the suits give him a free hand.

A few years ago there was all of this hype about how games were becoming like movies. As a result we were all treated to lots of motion captured cut scene crap, for a while. I think that now lessons have been learned and we're on the verge of some really great things in interactive entertainment. Games like Splinter Cell, Metal Gear Solid, and the engrossing RPGs from Square and their online cousins, are pointing the way to the future. If Jason Hall is a visionary, then he'll be looking to go in this direction too. I'm talking about where the game is bigger than your PC or console, where it plays in your head and your heart too!

With this in mind, it's a good thing that a lot of Warner movie and comic related properties are already licensed to other companies. They'd just be a constant distraction and a siren song to failure. Granted, the chances of success are still not great, but if you're going to suck, it's best to suck with your own original stuff!