Following Monolith Productions' official closure, renowned journalist Jason Schreier shared more details about what the studio had been working on since the 2017 launch of Middle-earth: Shadow of War.
Speaking on the latest episode of the Kinda Funny Gamescast, Schreier revealed that Monolith did not want to make another game in the 'Middle-earth: Shadow of' universe. That is understandable, as by Shadow of War, the formula had become rather stale. The developer attempted to create an original IP codenamed Legacy next, but Warner Bros. Games decided to cancel the project in April 2021. This proved to be a fatal blow for Monolith because most of the leadership team resigned and went on to found Cliffhanger Games, an Electronic Arts-owned developer that is developing a Black Panther game. Interestingly, this new game will feature 'new storytelling tech' that will be used across several EA games, sounding a lot like the Nemesis system developed at Monolith. That one is trademarked by Warner Bros. Games, but some of the former developers could have developed a similar concept without incurring legal problems.
Anyway, Monolith tried to make the Wonder Woman game powered by the Nemesis system. However, the studio had to rebuild its leadership team from scratch in the middle of this new project, and they were also unsure whether to use Unreal Engine or their own LithTech Firebird engine. The latter ultimately won out, but several of the engineers who were experienced with it had left the company by then, causing development problems.
As previously reported, Wonder Woman was also rebooted between late 2023 and early 2024. The new version was supposed to be more like God of War and no longer have the Nemesis system. Clearly, though, a lot of work was left to do before the game could ship, and Warner Bros. Games decided to cut their losses and shut down Monolith for good. As is often the case in these situations, the developers only learned about the dire news on the same day as the public.
Regarding the rest of Warner Bros. Games, some executives reportedly wanted to transform WB Games Montreal into a support studio after the release of Gotham Knights, and some of the team was put on helping Monolith with Wonder Woman until recently. However, the developer of Batman: Arkham Origins and Gotham Knights is still trying to pitch a Game of Thrones title, and the IP based on George R.R. Martin's world was named among the publisher's priorities going forward. According to Schreier, TT Games is also in the final steps of making a new LEGO game that could launch as early as next year.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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