Despite
being
founded
in
2019,
Warner
Bros.
San
Diego
never
got
to
release
a
game
before
it
was

unceremoniously
shuttered
by
Warner
Brothers
just
last
month,
along
with
several
other
studios,
including
Monolith
Games.
Now,
though,
we
seemingly
know
what
the
studio
was
working
on:
a
kart
racer
that
would
have
used
Warner
Bros.
many
IP.

The
news
comes
by
way
of
former
IGN
writer
Colin
Moriarty
who
now
runs
a
successful
podcast
business.

Speaking
on
his
flagship
show
Sacred
Symbols,
which
is
behind
a
Patron
paywall,
Moriarty
revealed
that
a
former
WB
San
Diego
employee
reached
out
to
him
following
the
podcast
discussing
the
closure
of
the
studio.
Moriarty
apparently
exchanged
emails
with
the
source
and,
after
confirming
his
or
her
validity,
took
part
in
a
video
call
with
the
source.

“WB
San
Diego
was
deep
in
development
on
a
kart
racer
which
was
codenamed
Moonlight,
which
also
went
by
a
duo
of
potentially
final
titles:
WB
Racers
and
XDR,
or
X-Drift
Racers,”
said
Moriarty,
reading
from
a
script
he
had
written
earlier.

“Like
now
defunct
studio
Player
First’s
work
on
Multiversus,
Project
Moonlight’s
roster
of
kart
drivers
would
come
from
Warner’s
wide
array
of
IP,
including
Adventure
Time,
Tom
&
Jerry,
Scooby-Do
and
more.”

Moriarty
was
not
just
told
about
the
game,
but
was
in
fact
able
to
see
actual
gameplay,
stating
that
he
could
“safely
say
this
title
was
heavily
inspired
by
Mario
Kart,
a
drift
racer
running
on
Unreal
Engine
5
with
stylised
graphics
and
fine
vehicle
control.”

“The
game
was
originally
conceived
very
early
in
the
life
of
WB
San
Diego
and
according
to
the
source
there
was
very
little
intention
and
a
lack
of
coherent
approach
throughout
development,”
Colin
revealed.
“For
instance,
it
began
life
as
a
free-to-play
online
only
multiplayer
racer
that
would
support
Xbox,
PlayStation,
Switch
and
even
mobile.
However,
towards
the
end
of
its
development,
the
Switch
and
mobile
platforms
were
dropped
completely,
and
a
PC
iteration
was
greenlit.
Then,
the
remaining
console
versions
were
put
on
ice
so
that
all
energies
could
be
put
into
a
PC
only
release
with
the
hope
that
if
the
game
was
successful
there
they
could
get
back
to
the
console
ports.
The
monetization
model
was
also
changed,
going
from
free-to-play
to
a
paid-for
title
which
would
be
first
available
to
purchase
via
Steam
Early
Access.”

According
to
Colin,
“development
was
fairly
rudderless
with
little
oversight
from
the
outside”
and
had
a
“development
cycle
that
really
came
apart
this
past
fall.”

The
project
was
also
described
as
having
“a
high
burn
rate”
due
the
studio
being
in
Southern
California
and
employing
over
100
people.

Finally,
the
source
noted
that
there
was
some
animosity
within
the
studio
as
they
felt
it
unfair
that
Multiversus
developer
Player
First
Games
had
essentially
got
to
go
twice
by
releasing
Multiversus,
then
pulling
it
and
releasing
it
again
later,
while
WB
San
Diego
hadn’t
even
got
to
release
a
single
project.

While
I
personally
don’t
have
much
confidence
in
Warner
Bros.
as
a
whole
and
have
no
idea
if
WB
San
Diego
would
have
delivered
a
quality
product,
the
idea
of
a
new
kart
racer
is
one
I
find
very
appealing.
I
love
the
genre,
and
Warner
Bros.
has
access
to
a
lot
of
IP
that
could
have
made
it
very
fun.
Shaggy
racing
against
Batman,
while
Ned
Stark
blasts
past?
Yeah,
sounds
like
a
decent
time.

What
do
you
guys
thing?
Would
you
have
liked
to
have
seen
a
WB
kart
racer?