Rocksteady might be heading back to familiar territory with a return to the kind of single-player Batman games that once earned widespread acclaim. This comes after their foray into the troubled live-service project, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. A recent report also sheds light on the behind-the-scenes hurdles faced by Monolith Productions as they tackle the Wonder Woman game.
According to Jason Schreier from Bloomberg, the report highlights a rather chaotic state within Warner Bros. Games. The company has recently seen a few notable failures, including the aforementioned Suicide Squad and the fighting game, MultiVersus. Suicide Squad delivered a conclusion that left fans underwhelmed just last month, which was compounded by employee layoffs at Rocksteady. Shortly after, news broke that MultiVersus would be shutting down.
Schreier notes that all these issues led Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav to describe the company’s gaming division as falling “substantially under its potential” during a November earnings call.
In terms of turning things around, what does Warner Bros. have cooking in their studios? Interestingly enough, the report hints that with Suicide Squad behind them, Rocksteady is eyeing a return to Batman for another single-player experience.
Before your excitement gets the best of you and you dust off Arkham Asylum for a celebratory brawl, it’s worth noting that according to those in the know, this new Batman project is “years away from landing.”
Things aren’t looking much better for Monolith Productions’ Wonder Woman game. Announced back at The Game Awards in 2021, the game has struggled in its development. After a reboot and a change in directors last year, it has amassed over $100 million in costs and is still “years away from release, if it ever makes it to market.”
The game was initially set to include a novel twist on Shadow of Mordor’s well-loved Nemesis system, allowing players to befriend enemies. However, it now seems to be shaping up as a standard action-adventure game.
Meanwhile, WB Games Montreal, known for Gotham Knights, has seen plans for a new Knights evolution, a DC antihero John Constantine game, and a project about The Flash all getting scrapped for various reasons. This has left them assisting with broader WB projects and working on a proposal for a new Game of Thrones game.
In summary, it’s a challenging time at Warner Bros. Games, but the notion of Rocksteady potentially returning to their single-player Batman roots could bring a smile to many fans’ faces.
