Warner Bros. Games is streamlining its interactive entertainment strategy by focusing on four major franchises: Mortal Kombat, Harry Potter, DC, and Game of Thrones.
This strategic shift, reported by Variety, includes a leadership reorganization designed to strengthen development around these core brands. Importantly, the restructuring will not result in layoffs or executive departures. Instead, three key figures within Warner Bros. Games have been promoted to senior leadership roles to oversee the new direction.
Yves Lachance, formerly head of Warner Bros. Games Montreal, has been elevated to Senior Vice President, Development, where he will oversee games tied to the Harry Potter and Game of Thrones universes. Shaun Himmerick of NetherRealm Studios assumes the same title and will lead development efforts for Mortal Kombat and DC Universe titles. Meanwhile, Steven Flenory, previously with Warner Bros. Games New York, has been promoted to Senior Vice President, Central Tech & Services, taking charge of game and publishing technology, customer support, quality assurance, and user research.
“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,” said J.B. Perrette, Global Streaming & Games CEO. “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.”
This realignment follows a challenging start to 2025 for Warner Bros. Games. On January 23, it was announced that David Haddad would be stepping down as leader of the division, following underwhelming performances from titles like the troubled launches of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and MultiVersus. Plans to shut down the latter emerged just one week later. In February, the company delivered an even greater blow by announcing the closure of Monolith Productions, Player First Games, and Warner Bros. San Diego, along with the cancellation of its Wonder Woman game.
The current restructuring aligns with a broader strategy Warner Bros. outlined late last year. At the time, the company acknowledged its games division “is substantially underperforming its potential right now,” and signaled a pivot toward proven franchises such as Hogwarts Legacy, Mortal Kombat, and Game of Thrones. DC remains a key pillar in this renewed focus, with Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav highlighting Batman as a franchise of particular strategic importance.
These changes at Warner Bros. Games are part of wider organizational shifts across the parent company. Recently, Warner Bros. Discovery announced plans to split into two distinct media entities: Global Networks and Streaming & Studios. As part of the transition, Max will soon revert to the HBO Max brand in the coming months.
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