Warner Bros. Discovery admits to $200 million loss on ‘Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League’

Providing financial validation of the live service title’s reputation as one of the worst disasters in video game history, Warner Bros. Discovery admitted the absolute failure of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League ultimately resulted in a $200 million hit to their bottom line.

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This concession SS:KTJLWBD’s failure was disclosed by WBD CEO David Zaslav and CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels during the company’s Q1 2024 earnings call, held on May 9.

The first to speak on the topic was Zaslav, who briefly noted to investors in his opening statement: “Unfortunately, the studio’s first quarter financials were overshadowed by the tough competition in games after the great performance of Hogwarts legacy last year and the disappointing release of Suicide squad (Kill the Justice League) in Q1 in our gaming group.”

Later, Wiedenfels would expand on this information while breaking down the studio’s quarterly earnings: “the $400 million-plus year-over-year decline in the first quarter (reported in the company’s earnings release) was primarily due to the very difficult conditions what we had to deal with. matches against the success of Hogwarts legacy last year in the first quarter, in combination with the disappointing one Suicide squad which we released last quarter and which we wrote down, resulting in a $200 million impact on EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) in the first quarter.”

According to the aforementioned earnings release, EBITDA for the company’s studio segment – ​​which includes its video game, television, theater and home entertainment businesses – fell approximately 70% compared to the prior year quarter, from $607 million in 2023 to just $184 million. in 2024.

According to WBD, this decline was largely caused by SS:KTJLwith what little can be done to limit the damage done by the theatrical revenues of Dune: part two and the home entertainment revenues of both Wonka And Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.

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Interestingly, while this is the first time the company has provided financial details about this fact, it is not the first time WBD has dealt with it SS:KTJL‘s failure.

Speaking to investors during the company’s previous Q4 2023 earnings call on February 23, Wiedenfels explained that when it came to the future of their video game segment, “We are following the release of Hogwarts Legacy in February last year, which saw the majority of the very positive financial impact in the first quarter. This year, Suicide Squad (Kill the Justice League), one of our top video game releases in 2024, has failed to meet our expectations since its release earlier this quarter, leaving our Games division facing a difficult year-over-year composition. in the first quarter.”

Furthermore, the CFO also revealed that their Studio segment’s finances would not even have a chance to fully recover SS:KTJL‘s more than disappointing performance before they would have another hit, as “on the film side, the first quarter will be charged with the marketing campaigns for Dune (part) two And Godzilla vs. Kongwhich opens at the very end of the quarter.”

Ultimately, this result is not a surprise, given the manner in which it was done bad The game – with its terribly written story, lazy gameplay design, and greed-driven monetization business model – has been received by players.

And while evidence for their rejection of SS:KTJL’Since the game’s cynical existence is easily plentiful through a quick search on any social media platform, you really don’t need to look any further than the game’s current Steam performance.

At the time of writing, the game’s player count is currently at a 24-hour peak of just 150, while the monthly peak – just under three months after release – is just slightly higher at 591.

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Mentioned in this article:David Zaslav DC Gunnar Wiedenfels Rocksteady Rocksteady Studios Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Discovery

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