A Warner Bros. job listing titled “Lead Software Engineer, Gameplay” sparked the speculation that the Wonder Woman game would be a live service game. Under the nice to haves section, it was mentioned that the right candidate should have “Experience helping maintain a live software product or game”.
The job description clearly mentioned that the role was for a Wonder Woman game, “Join the Wonder Woman team and help bring an iconic DC Superhero to life!” It also noted that the right candidate “will lead the team responsible for core gameplay systems inherent to Monolith’s proprietary engine including combat, movement, the Nemesis system, and more!”
After sighting the job listing earlier this month, Nathan Birch of WCCFtech lashed out at Warner Bros. for not reading the writings on the wall that “games as a service bubble is bursting”. Birch backed up the claim by listing how Bungie missed its Destiny revenue target, how Epic was bleeding money, and how Sony had to delay half of its live-service titles.
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It didn’t stop there. Birch also asserted that the reason why Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was delayed had nothing to do with removing the live-service element of the game as well as predicted “delicious monetization in future WB titles”. Warner Bros. confirmed in February that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League would be a live service game with a permanent online connection requirement.
Live service games or game-as-a-service are games that continue to be developed long after launch. They get regular events, features (like cosmetics), and content. Players are usually required to have an active internet connection to play them, and the developers use various monetization techniques to generate revenue.
The primary goal of live service games is to make players interact and build a community around the game. Unlike traditional games with finite development cycles, a studio will usually continue to develop live service games for as long as it remains profitable. Popular live service games include;
Warner Bros. denies Wonder Woman game-as-a-service claim
Despite the description on the Wonder Woman job listing, Warner Bros. has denied the claim. Wonder Woman was announced as a single-player, open-world action game that “will introduce an original story set in the DC Universe and allow players to become Diana of Themyscira, while also featuring the Nemesis System,” said a Warner Bros. spokesperson in a statement sent to IGN.
The spokesperson also mentioned that “Wonder Woman is not being designed as a live service”. However, Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav had mentioned during the company’s recent earnings call that they would put in more effort on live service games.
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“Our focus is on transforming our biggest franchises from largely console and PC based with three-four-year release schedules to include more always-on gameplay through live services, multiplatform and free-to-play extensions with the goal to have more players spending more time on more platforms. Ultimately, we want to drive engagement and monetization of longer cycles and at higher levels. We have specific capabilities. We are currently under scale and see significant opportunities to generate greater post-purchase revenue.”
Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav
Wonder Woman was announced in December 2021 with less than a minute teaser trailer and description that said players will “fight to unite Diana’s Amazon family and the humans from the modern world. Since that announcement, Monolith Productions has been hiring to fill up important roles.
At the time of writing this post, the Lead Software Engineer, Gameplay was the only available opening on the company’s jobs page. Do you think it will be a terrible idea for Warner Bros. to make Wonder Woman a live service game? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
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