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Warner Bros. Games2023–2025Live Mid-Core Mobile Games

WB Games Enterprise Web Commerce

Led the monetization architecture behind WB Games' direct-to-consumer web commerce platform — reclaiming $100M+ in revenue across live RPG IPs.

$100M+

Revenue Reclaimed

via direct-to-consumer web channels

~25%

Platform Fee Recovery

margin recaptured from App Store / Google Play

6

Storefronts Built

across WB Games IP portfolio

4–12

Concurrent Experiments

running at peak live ops cadence

50+

Top-Grossing Titles

audited monthly, 50+ data points each

10M+

MAU Design System

WB Player Network identity

Overview

Warner Bros. Games operates a portfolio of live mid-core mobile titles — including Game of Thrones Conquest and Harry Potter: Magic Awakened — generating significant IAP revenue across iOS and Android. With 30% of every transaction paid to platform infrastructure, WB needed a direct-to-consumer purchase channel that could recapture that margin at scale.

The Challenge

Building web commerce infrastructure for major entertainment IPs requires coordinating legal, localization, offshore engineering, payment partners, and live ops — simultaneously, on live games with real revenue at stake. The design system had to scale across 6 distinct IP identities while the underlying commerce engine stayed consistent.

The Platform Fee Problem

30% of every App Store or Google Play IAP transaction goes to the platform. For a live mid-core title generating $10M in monthly IAP revenue, that's $3M per month that doesn't get reinvested in the game.

The thesis: build a direct web purchase channel with compelling incentives — exclusive bundles, bonus currency, loyalty mechanics — that migrates 20–30% of high-value purchases off platform. Even partial migration creates significant margin recapture at scale. WB's portfolio had the audience and the content to make it work. The gap was execution infrastructure.

30%

Platform fee on App Store / Google Play

~25%

Revenue recaptured via web

20–30%

Target: high-value payer migration

The Experiment Engine

A static web store isn't the goal — an experiment machine is. At peak cadence, we ran 4–12 concurrent A/B tests across live storefronts: pricing anchors, bundle compositions, first-purchase messaging, bonus structures, time-limited offer mechanics.

Each experiment was designed to answer a specific monetization question: Does a 3-tier pricing presentation outperform a single featured offer? What's the optimal bundle count before choice paralysis reduces ARPPU? Does a first-purchase bonus communicated on the store landing page increase conversion versus communicating it only in-app?

Every experiment was fed by a monthly competitive audit: top 50 grossing mobile games, 50+ data points per title. Patterns from market leaders were tested against WB's audience before becoming standard practice. That competitive intelligence framework evolved into the 14-dimension audit system used by LootRate today.

4–12

Concurrent experiments at peak

Monthly

Competitive audit cadence

50+

Top-grossing titles tracked

50+

Data points per game

The Design Architecture

Six storefronts — across IPs as distinct as Game of Thrones and Harry Potter — required a componentized approach: a base commerce layer (checkout, cart, payment UI, offer cards) wrapped in IP-specific theming. The engine stayed constant. The presentation adapted.

A shared component library meant faster IP launches, consistent A/B test infrastructure, and unified analytics. Each new storefront was an incremental build, not a greenfield project.

Enterprise Coordination

Shipping live web commerce for major entertainment IPs required coordinating legal, localization, payment partners, offshore engineering, and live ops simultaneously. The solution: a structured review and handoff system that maintained design integrity without slipping launch dates.

The Player Network identity — reaching 10M+ MAU — emerged from this challenge. A shared design language made IP-specific implementations legible to non-design stakeholders and reduced cross-departmental sign-off friction.

◆ Outcome
  • $100M+ in direct-to-consumer revenue reclaimed
  • 20–30% high-value purchase migration off platform
  • 6 live storefronts deployed across WB IP portfolio
  • 4–12 concurrent monetization experiments at peak cadence
  • Competitive audit intelligence institutionalized portfolio-wide
Mario worked on our Webstore initiative, where he contributed to defining and refining the overall design direction. He worked closely with product and engineering partners to ensure consistency across touchpoints and helped translate strategic goals into a cohesive player experience. Mario's thoughtful approach and willingness to engage across teams supported the Webstore's progress from concept to launch and helped establish a solid design foundation for future iterations.

Cedric Verstraete

Director of Product Management, Warner Bros. Games

◆ Context

What This Means for Your Game

Most mid-size RPG and gacha studios don't need six storefronts. They need structured monetization architecture and experimentation discipline.

LootRate distills this enterprise-scale model into a focused revenue optimization system for live teams.

Scorecard Highlights

IAP Store UX3.8/5

Strong native store; web channel gap identified as primary opportunity

First-Purchase Conversion2.9/5

Significant lift captured via web-exclusive bonus structure

Web Store Presence0.5/5

An early-stage GoT Conquest web store existed but was barely functional and underused — effectively starting from zero

Platform Fee Strategy1.0/5

100% platform-dependent; web channel created 25% recovery path

Experiment Readiness4.2/5

Strong A/B infrastructure enabled 4–12 concurrent experiments

Opportunity Index16.4

See how your monetization system scores.

The same 14-dimension framework used to identify WB’s web revenue opportunity — run on your game.

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