James Gunn’s DCU: The Faint Light Saving DC’s Video Game Future

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The genre of superheroes has proven to be highly profitable in contemporary entertainment, largely due to expansive series such as the Marvel Cinematic Universe and hit video games like “Marvel’s Spider-Man” and “Marvel Rivals”. Although Marvel continues to dominate the scene (despite a few missteps within the MCU), DC is still working to regain its footing.

Over the past ten years, DC has experienced a diverse range of outcomes, with some profitable projects but fewer critically acclaimed ones, particularly in their video game division which hasn’t launched a truly successful title since 2018. However, the DC Universe is undergoing a significant transformation, and this reboot could be the solution DC’s video games have been needing.

The DCU Could Be a Saving Grace for DC Video Games

DC’s Video Game Department Is In Troubled Waters

As a dedicated gamer who’s been following DC video games for some time now, it’s been a rough ride these last few years. While there’s been some shift in opinions since its debut, the release of Gotham Knights this year was met with a mix of praise and criticism from all corners. Now, Warner Bros., the game’s publisher, hasn’t exactly confirmed it, but I can’t help but notice that just a month after launch, Gotham Knights saw a massive 40% price drop.

Kill the Justice League,” which was released last year, didn’t do as well as expected. Instead of being a successful comeback for Rocksteady in the Arkhamverse, it turned into one of the most notorious flops in modern gaming, earning mixed feedback from critics and falling short of Warner Bros.’ sales targets.

Previously released game titled “Batman: Arkham Shadow” surpassed the sales mark of 1 million copies last year and garnered significant acclaim among critics. However, due to its exclusivity on Meta Quest 3/3S, it has been unable to achieve wider mainstream success.

After the disappointing performance of “Suicide Squad” and the subsequent studio closure announcement, Warner Bros. confirmed last week that Monolith’s upcoming Wonder Woman game has been scrapped, along with the shuttering of two other WB studios. At present, there’s only one DC video game project in development rumored to be a Batman game from Rocksteady, but it seems to be still in its infancy, so fans shouldn’t expect it for quite some time.

James Gunn’s DCU Could Be The Light At The End of The Tunnel

Under the leadership of James Gunn and Peter Safran, the new DC Universe commenced officially, as Creature Commandos served as its inaugural project. Although it was not without flaws, Creature Commandos established some captivating foundations for the DCU, foundations that are expected to be utilized in crafting a far larger, improved, and more unified DC cinematic world.

Apart from movies and TV series, the new DC Universe also plans to venture into video games. In fact, when James Gunn unveiled the upcoming projects for the DCU in early 2023, he hinted at potential canon games within the universe. Recently, it was revealed that Gunn and Peter Safran are collaborating closely with JB Perrette, head of Warner Bros.’ video game department, and have had discussions with developers from NetherRealm and Rocksteady.

Although it seems like DC Universe’s first game has been delayed significantly in an interview with ComicBook, Gunn mentioned that it’s still “a couple years” away. This means that even though it may appear that DC is struggling in video game development right now, there’s a glimmer of hope on the horizon, although it may be hard to see and far off.

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2025-03-09 19:06