Jason Schreier has shared his insights on what happened to Monolith Productions behind the scenes leading to its closure.
In a new episode of the Kinda Funny Gamescast, Schreier shares everything he knows behind the scenes at WB Games. We’ve paraphrased his story about Monolith Productions for you below.
As you may know, Monolith has been around for nearly 31 years. Although they have made a lot of games now recognized as classics, their breakout hit was Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor. It’s crazy to think about, but in the midst of their F.E.A.R. and N.O.L.F. games, the 2014 action game that debuts their Nemesis system is Monolith’s most successful title.
Their follow up, Middle-Earth: Shadow of War, was not as well received because of the lootboxes that were added into the game. Monolith then decides to start over with a new IP codenamed Legacy.
Legacy would have featured an even bigger iteration of Monolith’s patented procedural story generation, in the service of an original story. However, Monolith runs into an issue here: WB Games doesn’t want to make new IPs. They only want to fund games based on their big money franchises.
Monolith has some clout because Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, so they can afford to keep development going. Subsequently, there are attempts to incorporate one of Warner Bros’ big franchises into Legacy, but it doesn’t work out.
And then things get weird. Schreier explains that Warner Bros.’ Hollywood-based executives give Monolith the “Hollywood No.” He describes a common scenario in Hollywood through the decades, where an executive will meet an actor or producer, and tell them they love their new film idea. They say that they can’t wait to hear from them again about project, but then proceed to ghost them.
Monolith got this treatment in multiple meetings with WB Games’ top brass. They would often leave meetings feeling frustrated because they weren’t sure if they even got anything accomplished.
Finally, around March or April of 2021 WB Games finally officially cancels Legacy. The fallout around this is huge. Monolith’s leadership quits the studio and WB Games. They then form a new games studio, called Cliffhanger Games, and poach many Monolith employees along the way. As we now know, Cliffhanger Games signs on with EA to make the upcoming Marvel’s Black Panther video game.
This story now picks up with details we mostly know. WB Games announces the Wonder Woman video game in December of 2021, mere months after they just assigned Monolith to stat on the project. Schreier says Monolith’s new head, David Hewitt, is well regarded by the studio, but he faces a daunting challenge. Hewitt has to rebuild Monolith after the numerous exits, while also getting them started on the game.
Monolith ends up choosing to use their internal game engine over Unreal, which has its merits and drawbacks. However, they make another far more regrettable choice. They try to make a reverse Nemesis system for the Wonder Woman video game, where you can build relationships with rivals and enemies to make them your allies.
This is a good idea on paper, but in 2023 they’re forced to reboot the game completely. They try to make a simpler action game, akin to God of War, but ultimately all these plans are undone because of WB Games’ severe financial losses in 2024.
For WB Games, in spite of the severe human toll, after they cancel the Wonder Woman video game, it doesn’t make sense for them to keep Monolith Productions, after they haven’t released a new game in over a decade. Schreier ends his account by revealing that Monolith staff were still completely shocked and surprised by the closure, even as word spread about the game cancellation as long as two months ago.
