What REALLY Happened To WB's Cancelled Batman: Arkham Games?

1. Rocksteady's GaaS Game - Justice League, Or Suicide Squad?

And thus we finally come to Rocksteady. The London-based devs have been hard at work fashioning their next DC project ever since wrapping up development on Arkham Knight in 2015. So what is it, and what do we know so far?

Coming off the back of Arkham Knight, everyone thought that Rocksteady would apply their single-player formula to a different DC character. As I've already mentioned the assumption for the longest time was that said character would be Superman, but it's not. In fact, their next title might not even be single-player at all.

Since 2018, Rocksteady have been hiring developers with experience working in GaaS. GaaS titles have proven hugely popular over the last console generation, with Bungie's Destiny galvanising the genre back in 2014. This year, Square Enix will bring the first superhero GaaS title to market in Marvel's Avengers, a game that'll allow players to take control of Earth's Mightiest Heroes alongside their friends in an evolving world supported through constant updates post-launch - one that's also widely expected to tie into Insomniac's Spider-Man game from 2018.

One could argue that Marvel have stolen a march over their old rivals, which is why Rocksteady's pivot from single-player to multiplayer is so intriguing. Is this a reactive move from WB? Are they playing to Rocksteady's strengths? Both questions are worth asking and especially so, given the publisher's last two cancellations were for single-player oriented DC video games.

Regardless of the cancellations that have afflicted both studios, there is still the matter of what this upcoming GaaS title will entail. Justice League seems like the most obvious prediction, while supposed leaks for a Suicide Squad title last year may yet reveal how WB have revisited one of their long abandoned projects.

As ever, concrete details are still forthcoming. At the beginning of the year, it looked as though players would finally get their answers. Unfortunately however, due to ongoing events, WB were unable to reveal their unannounced projects, with Jason Schreier reporting back in March that the publisher were due to finally peel back the curtain on their DC titles at this year's now cancelled Electronic Entertainment Expo, originally scheduled for June.

It's such a shame - both for the fans and the developers working hard behind the scenes. One would hope WB have something else planned to make up for E3's cancellation - a Nintendo Direct style event that'll showcase their in-development projects, perhaps - but word has gone quiet yet again.

Here's hoping that this time, they won't stay silent for too long.

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What do you make of all the cancelled Batman: Arkham games? Let us know in the comments below.