I know nothing. I am but a simple man who loves the video game industry. Sadly, all I hear these days is that the industry is on its last leg. It’s over. Pack it up. This time next year we’ll say, “video games, what’s that?” Well, CAPCOM’s Monster Hunter Wilds just sold eight million copies in three days. Maybe instead of acting like the poorly run companies in this business are the norm, we showcase the people who are doing it right and shame the ones doing it wrong. WB doesn’t represent the game industry at large. It’s a poorly managed company that somehow figured out a way to fumble nearly 15 years of great work. I agree that sometimes studios and publishers let their games get too bloated with big budgets and ideas that are sometimes too big for studios to release within a reasonable amount of time, but I refuse to believe that a publisher that has the rights to Batman, Superman, Mortal Kombat, Lord of The Rings, Game of Thrones and Harry Potter is on the verge of collapse because everybody wants their games to be Fortnite.

So what’s the solution? Well, Warner Brothers and Warner Sister, I greatly appreciate you coming here today to read my proposal on how to fix WB Games. Sure, there are a million other people out there claiming to know the answers but, with respect, they’re wrong. They don’t have it. They don’t see the vision. They’re lost in the IP Sauce. “What about a Scooby-Doo game,” they cry out. We’re here to keep people employed, make money, and make art IN THAT ORDER. So what do we do? How do we go about things? I’m glad you asked.

For me, the key to fixing all of this isn’t Rocksteady, it’s NetherRealm. Mortal Kombat 1 has sold over five million copies, which on paper sounds good until you compare it to Mortal Kombat 11 which sold fifteen million copies. What happened? Why did WB’s cash cow go dry? I love Mortal Kombat. I’ve been playing it since I was a little kid. I’ve never missed an entry… until now. When Mortal Kombat 11 ended, it promised a new future for the franchise. A future where anything could happen. Then Mortal Kombat 1 happened, and, at least for the game’s story, it appeared as if nothing changed. No interesting new characters, no truly inventive character re-designs, and certain characters that fans were hoping to see finally return to the game were missing. Besides that, the game just didn’t look fun to play. On top of all of this, though, the answer to why it didn’t sell as well as it should have is even simpler. There wasn’t enough time between games. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and with back-to-back releases, our hearts were never given the time to miss our favorite fighting game.

After Mortal Kombat 1, what should NR do? With everything going on with James Gunn, a new DC fighting game like Injustice makes sense. With Gunn’s love for the weird, NetherRealm having access to newly used characters like Frankenstein’s Monster, Weasel, Polka Dot Man, and Bowl Cut Green Lantern could lead to not only a fun story but a roster full of unique characters for players to use. But what if Ed Boon and his crew were allowed to do something more unique? I have two suggestions, and I think they’re both fun enough that if either one happened, everyone would be interested.

Multiversus was highly successful until it was mismanaged and eventually killed. What if we gave a similar concept to a more experienced studio? The higher-ups at WB have been touting their IP any chance they get, so why not showcase them all in one place? Imagine an Injustice-style fighting game that showcased John Snow vs Voldemort, Batman vs Neo, and Gollum vs Wonder Woman. Don’t worry Beetlejuice and Ace Ventura are coming as DLC. Is it silly? Absolutely! Would you buy it? You know you would.

If that doesn’t grab you, though, that’s fine. I’ve got one more idea. One of the things that Mortal Kombat does best is DLC. These announcements always grab people’s attention, especially when it’s classic movie characters like Jason from Friday The 13th, Freddy Krueger, Predator, Alien, Leatherface, Terminator, and Robocop. So what if the studio just leaned into that? Terrordrome: Rise of the Boogeymen was a fan-made game from Huracan Studio that featured characters like Ghostface, Michael Myers, Ash, and Chucky. This is the inspiration. Terrordrome with the budget of NetherRealm would lead to one of the most memorable titles in the history of fighting games.

Either choice, whether it be WB’s version of Marvel vs Capcom or a Horror Movie Battle Royale to the death, I believe NetherRealm would remind everyone just how incredible of a studio they are and have always been.

Moving on… Just in case you don’t know, Avalanche Software and Shiver Entertainment made Hogwarts Legacy and as of right now, it’s sold over thirty million units. Needless to say, I don’t need to give them any suggestions. Just keep making more Hogwarts Legacy. Don’t add any microtransactions. There’s no need for a battlepass. Just keep making your game.

With that said, there’s only one other studio that needs to be focused on today and that’s Rocksteady. We all loved the Arkham games, but after the obvious mistake of Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League, the studio is in disarray. So what’s the answer? For me, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. How ya doin’ Insomniac Games?

Between 2018 and 2023, Insomniac Games released Marvel’s Spider-Man, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, and Spider-Man 2. If I had any say over what Rocksteady did over the next few years, it would be to create a business model like Insomniac. I’ll be generous and move Ratchet & Clank to the side there’s no reason why more studios can’t do something similar to what Insomniac did with Spider-Man. Rocksteady should be making a Batman game, and that game should be followed up by a smaller game set in the same world as their big-budget Batman game. My understanding is that Insomniac had a sort of “Team A” and “Team B” working on their Spider-Man games and that’s what should be happening with Batman. After the first big Batman game releases, whatever the next big Batman game is has to be something that can be released in 5 years. No more. And thankfully, during that 5-year window, Rocksteady’s 2nd team has a smaller Nightwing or Robin game that continues to flesh out that world.

Over 6 years, fans got all three entries into the Arkham game and that’s not including WB Montreal’s Arkham Origins which came out the middle of fans waiting for Arkham City and Arkham Knight. So for anyone thinking this idea is ridiculous, guess what, Rocksteady and WB have not only done this before, but once upon a time, they were some of the best in the industry to do it.

Well, this has been my entirely too-long pitch to save WB Games. Will they listen? Of course not. It’s just sad because WB owns some of the most iconic characters of all time while also being in charge of some of the best video game studios in the world. If the goal is to marry these two things together, that’s fine, all you need to do is stay out of the creators’ way. Sadly, I don’t see that happening. I can’t wait for the utter disappointment I’ll feel when I see that Hogwarts Legacy has somehow been turned into a co-op looter shooter.