WB Games Montréal sounds like they’re experiencing a brain drain, despite the fact they’re supposedly working on two new DC Comics games.
When Batman: Arkham Origins came out in 2013 it seemed as if new studio WB Games Montréal had a bright future ahead of it… until they failed to release any new games until last year’s disastrous Gotham Knights.
Before that, there had been endless stories of cancelled DC Comics games, from multiple Superman titles to one starring Batman’s secret love child, but none of them came to fruition and it was clear there was a lot of publisher interference going on behind the scenes.
Perhaps now we’ll find out exactly what was happening, as the three biggest names at the studio have all left within the last few months, with the Game Director, Creative Director, and Executive Producer all exiting the studio along with a number of less senior staff.
Despite its inactivity over the last decade, WB Games Montréal is a big studio with around 350 employees split between two different teams.
To judge by recent job postings the Gotham Knights team is now working on a new co-op multiplayer game and the other team has been at work on a single-player title for the last two or three years.
Both are likely to be DC Comics properties, since that’s all the developer has ever worked on, but those plans were almost certainly thrown into turmoil when James Gunn took over as the head of DC Studios.
During his pitch to fans he stated that all forthcoming games would be part of the new movie continuity he’s creating and while there already seem to be several exceptions to that rule in terms of films, it’s not doubt led to a lot of retrofitting of ideas at WB Games Montréal and beyond.
None of the staff departures were advertised, but fans on Reddit noticed their exit and appearance at various other studios, such as the nearby Ubisoft Montréal.
However, until recently Fleur Marty remained at WB Games and was executive producer on the announced, but still never seen, Wonder Woman game.
Other staff seem to be working on that game now as well, even though it’s being led by Shadow Of Mordor developer Monolith Productions – although that’s not unusual for games where the publisher owns multiple studios.
Even so, none of this paints a pretty picture and it’s only a relief that there’s so far no sign of the studio being shut down.
Considering how well regarded the Batman: Arkham games were, Warner Bros. has certainly made a mess of the DC Comics licence since, with NetherRealm’s two Injustice games being the only other major titles to have been released in the last decade.
Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad game was supposed to have been out ages ago, but currently it’s not due until next February, following a disastrous gameplay reveal earlier this year.
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