Cancelled Wonder Woman game was ‘a showpiece epic’ says consultant

Monolith’s Wonder Woman game has been described as ‘gorgeous and expansive’, as the studio’s patented Nemesis system looks to be locked away for the next decade.

Warner Bros. recently announced the shut down of three whole studios, in what was described by the company as a ‘strategic change in direction’.

One of the affected developers was Monolith Productions, the team known for Middle-Earth: Shadow Of Mordor and its sequel Shadow Of War. The studio was working on a Wonder Woman game but that has been axed now as well, three years after it was announced.

Following Wonder Woman’s cancellation, a consultant who worked on the game has posted on social media about the title, describing it as a ‘showpiece epic’.

In a post on X, comic book writer Gail Simone, whose past work includes issues of Wonder Woman, said she served as a ‘long term’ consultant on Monolith’s game.

‘The game was gorgeous and expansive,’ Simone wrote. ‘It was beautiful to look at. I am not going to give details for a number of reasons, but every effort was made to make this not just a great game, but a great Wonder Woman game. A showpiece epic.

‘And all of that was because of the team. Everyone who worked on it brought their A-game. Programmers, artists, designers, everyone. I don’t know that I have ever worked with a team that cared more about making sure the end product was perfect.’

She added: ‘It was a dream come true. Wonder Woman had a dream team and they put their all into it. They made sure it had Wonder Woman and DC lore on every aspect of the game. It was a thrill and honour to work with them.’

Simone concluded by saying ‘everyone wanted to make the best game ever’, further praising the ‘amazing team’ who she hopes will ‘continue to make brilliant games’.

While Wonder Woman was announced just over three years ago, no gameplay footage was ever released. When it was announced, it was described as a single-player open world action adventure game featuring an original story set in the DC universe, where players will ‘become Diana Of Themyscira in the fight to unite her Amazon family and the humans from the modern world’.

The only confirmed gameplay feature was the Nemesis system from the studio’s Shadow Of Mordor games. Previous rumours described it as a cross between God Of War and Crackdown, while leaked concept art appeared to show a more high-tech character alongside Wonder Woman.

According to reports, the first incarnation of Wonder Woman ‘tried reimagining’ the Nemesis system where the DC superhero would ‘befriend enemies’. This idea, however, was apparently ditched ‘in favour of a more traditional action adventure game’, with the title undergoing a reboot early last year when it switched directors.

The shut down of Monolith has wider ramifications for the Nemesis system, a mechanic whereby unique enemies could be generated with personalities and traits, with the capacity to remember your past actions. Warner Bros. filed a patent for the system in 2016 which was approved in 2021, preventing other developers from using it unless they buy a licence.

With the shut down of Monolith and the cancellation of Wonder Woman, the Nemesis system is seemingly going to end up being mothballed for the foreseeable future. The patent has an expiration date of August 11, 2036, so if Warner Bros. keeps up the renewal fees to maintain the patent, the system will be locked behind the company’s doors for at least the next 11 years.

It’s especially infuriating considering how vague the patent is, which protects the ‘Nemesis characters, nemesis forts, social vendettas and followers in computer games’. Other game developers can still use the system if they pay Warner Bros. a fee, or if they create a similar system with enough distinctive qualities to separate it, but it’s likely the possibility of being sued, or the high costs involved, will put many off the idea.

As well as Monolith, Warner Bros. also shut down MultiVersus studio Player First Games and mobile developer Warner Bros. Games San Diego, as it moves to ‘structure our development studios and investments around building the best games possible with our key franchises’; namely Harry Potter, Mortal Kombat, Game Of Thrones, and DC Comics.

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