Why Rocksteady Going The Obvious Route With Its Next Game Would Be Best

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Why Rocksteady Going The Obvious Route With Its Next Game Would Be Best

As a long-time fan of Rocksteady Studios and their iconic Batman Arkham series, I can’t help but feel a mix of empathy and anticipation for their future endeavors. The tumultuous journey they’ve been on with the release of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has been disheartening, to say the least. However, it seems that Rocksteady is not one to dwell in misfortune for long.

Rocksteady Studios has faced a challenging year. Their anticipated comeback after nearly a decade was marred by one of the most notorious flops in recent gaming, leaving fans, critics, and stakeholders disillusioned. It seems Rocksteady is navigating rough waters, but there may be hope on the horizon.

In June, a report by Jason Schreier at Bloomberg proposed reasons for the setbacks experienced by “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.” According to this report, Rocksteady Studios may be attempting to restore their reputation by returning to their original style. This speculation is supported by rumors that Rocksteady has pitched a single-player game idea to Warner Bros. executives following the release of “Suicide Squad.” Additionally, a senior programmer at Rocksteady recently added an “unannounced project” to their LinkedIn profile, hinting that they might be working on a new project. Although the nature of this unannounced Rocksteady project remains uncertain, it seems logical that they would return to what they do best in order to recover from recent difficulties.

Rocksteady’s Unannounced Game Should Be Another Batman Arkham Entry

Rocksteady’s Live-Service Experiment Didn’t Work

It’s crucial to emphasize the significant setback that “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League” has experienced, and why this misstep could influence Rocksteady’s future projects. When it was announced in February 2023 that “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League” would be a live-service looter-shooter, fans were quick to express their displeasure. Given Rocksteady’s reputation for creating immersive single-player games with strong narratives, a multiplayer looter-shooter was not the direction fans expected from the studio.

Rocksteady Studios postponed Suicide Squad for a year, but when the game eventually came out, it delivered an experience that was largely in line with what fans anticipated. While Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League offered enjoyable gameplay, it fell short in several areas such as limited modes, an unengaging endgame grind, underwhelming boss battles, and a storyline that sparked considerable controversy upon release.

This rough critical reception translated to some equally rough statistics. According to reliable tracking site SteamDB, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League began with a player count of 13,459, but within a month that number had dropped to just 740 active players. Though Suicide Squad‘s first season of post-launch content caused a minor resurgence in its player-base, the numbers soon dropped once again. At the time of writing, Suicide Squad has a 24-hour peak player count of just 133.

Reports indicate that Warner Bros. has acknowledged a $200 million deficit on the game “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.” It’s undeniable that this project has dealt a significant setback to both Rocksteady and Warner Bros., and it appears they are now under pressure to find strategies to offset these losses.

The Best Move is For Rocksteady to Fall Back on The Batman Arkham Franchise

In addition to harming its reputation, Rocksteady’s struggles with Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League appear to be causing significant problems for the studio’s continued existence. Eurogamer has reported layoffs within Rocksteady’s quality assurance department. Given the number of people whose livelihoods are at stake, it wouldn’t be shameful if Rocksteady decided to focus on its next project by creating another single-player Batman: Arkham game. This is what the studio excels at, this is what fans desire, and it would be the wisest choice for the studio and its staff to preserve their jobs.

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2024-09-09 00:23