Variety recently spoke with David Haddad, president of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, and JB Perrette, CEO of worldwide streaming and gaming at Warner Bros. Discovery, regarding the company's video game plans, particularly in regard to DC Studios co-chair James Gunn and his grandiose plans for an interconnected cinematic universe that crosses all mediums.
Gunn stated that the vision for DC Studios included plans for television, animation, and video game projects, with actors playing the same character across all mediums, when he first introduced the ambitious Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters film slate in January 2023.
So does Gunn's statement mean that every DC Comics-based title that WB Games releases after Superman: Legacy hits theaters in 2025, is required to have a connection to the DCU?
Not precisely, at least according to Perrette.
“Frankly, there hasn’t been as close a relationship between the studio and the games business as there should have been. And James is actually a gamer, so having someone who’s passionate about it is super helpful,” stated Warner Bros. Discovery CEO of global streaming and gaming JB Perrette. He added that Warner Bros. Games is “actively working with [Gunn and Safran] on the core franchises within the DC Universe.”
However, he also cautioned that, “While they’re working on a Superman movie title, we’re not going to launch a Superman game purely because we feel obligated. We have to do something that makes sense for the gaming strategy and for fans and for the consumer.”
It seems that fans shouldn't anticipate that every DC video game that WB Games produces will have a connection to Gunn and Safran's DCU or that a video game will be produced for every DCU film.
However, that was the conventional wisdom for superhero movies in previous years.
Tobey Maguire's 2002 Spider-Man movie had a tie-in game for PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Microsoft Windows and PC. The 2004 sequel to the film also had a tie-in game. Maguire and the main cast all voiced their video game counterparts in both titles.
Likewise, a tie-in game for X-Men Origins: Wolverine was released the same day as the film hit theaters, with Hugh Jackman lending his voice talents to the Raven Software hack-and-slash action-adventure game.
Even the MCU got in on the practice before the fad died out with 2011's Captain America: Super Soldier for the Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360, and Nintendo 3DS. In the game, Chris Evans, Neal McDonough, Hayley Atwell, Sebastian Stan, and Kenneth Choi all reprised their roles from Captain America: The First Avenger.
Based on the statements by Gunn and Perrette, it sounds like WB Games is looking to revive the practice of tie-in games with DC Studios but it's not going to be an absolute rule.