10 Rejected Video Game Ideas Literally EVERYONE Would've Loved
9. Gotham By Gaslight
1989’s Gotham by Gaslight is important in comic books because it’s considered to be the first ‘elseworlds’ story in the DC Universe. It’s also awesome because it sees Batman clashing with Jack the Ripper. Set in Gotham City in 1889, it gives the Caped Crusader an his dark world and even more gothic twist.
This beautiful nugget of an idea was deliciously turned into a video game pitch around 2009 by developers Day 1 Studios. A very short amount of test footage of this exists which gives a good idea of the dark, foggy aesthetic that the title would’ve produced. For a game nowhere near finished, it looks incredible and the mind begins to fill with the promise of seeing steampunk Batman gadgetry.
Sadly, this pitch never got the green light from Warner Bros Entertainment. There could be any number of reasons why. Most likely that Warner didn’t want two different competing Batman video games and preferred to focus on the guaranteed success of an Arkham Asylum sequel. Sadly, this meant blowing out the candle on Gotham by Gaslight.
At the very least, Batman’s 1889 look got a DLC costume in Arkham Origins but… it’s just not the same.