Nowadays, there seems to be no better example of a game that effectively killed its own momentum other than Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad game. Before its most recent gameplay trailers and system introductions, Rocksteady’s upcoming game was the talk of everyone. Not just fans of the creators of the excellent Arkham series, not just the DC community, literally almost everyone!
That speaks volumes to the insane hype Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League got after its initial announcement back in 2020. However, gamers quickly turned on it after a baffling yet interesting business decision. The same hype it cultivated for itself has since been replaced by ire and criticisms. And with the announcement of yet another delay, Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad feels dead already even before it actually releases.
What is Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League?
It has been quite a while since Rocksteady released a new game after the conclusion of its truly wonderful Batman Arkham series. The wishes and prayers of the fans of the gaming studio were then answered in 2020. The announcement of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was so well-received that it effectively became the next big thing to look forward to. Perhaps even more so than any other game.
Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad was marketed as the next great DC-based game. Instead of keeping the focus on the heroes, the squad shifts the narrative and aims to shine the spotlight on the ‘villains.’ Particularly Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, Deadshot, and the frightening yet lovable King Shark. These four misfits are then tasked to defeat the DC heroes who are purportedly brainwashed by Brainiac.
Gamers quickly ate up this interesting premise. Millions lined up in anticipation of more news about the game. Back then, it was as if you can’t go a day without someone talking about it. However, the more news gamers heard the more they turned away from it—the inverse of what was supposed to happen. The fact that Suicide Squad is set to be an online co-op action shooter was already a head-turner for some. That said, the worst was yet to come.
Why Do Gamers Hate It Already?
Gamers wanted Suicide Squad to be a true follow-up game for the Arkham series. They wished for the gameplay to remain faithful or perhaps be inspired by it. However, what we actually got cannot be any further away from that.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is being developed as a live-service game akin to the disastrous Marvel’s Avengers. The game received heavy backlash after this became apparent. You only have to look at the slew of negative comments the trailers of the game received on YouTube to see how disappointed fans are upon realizing Rocksteady’s business decision.
Several media outlets then quickly capitalized on the buzz this interesting approach generated. They blasted Suicide Squad and deemed it a failure even before it actually hit the store shelves. While the game is still in people’s mouths, most of them do not have anything good to say about it.
The backlash Rocksteady is getting after officially announcing their game is going the live-service approach is so pronounced it is now rare to see anyone non-ironically waiting to play it. Others are angry, but most are just disappointed. Suicide Squad has so much potential to be the next great DC game, but it is all since been squandered.
The True Reason for the Delays
Rocksteady recently announced that Suicide Squad will be delayed yet again. The release of the game has now been moved to February 2nd of next year. Notably, the game was supposed to drop this upcoming May 26th. Interestingly, many see this lengthy delay as Rocksteady’s way of mitigating the controversy its game generated in the past few months. On the other hand, some hopefuls argue that they are out to fix the game itself in the months to come, thus, justifying the delay.
As wonderful as that sounds, we sincerely doubt Rocksteady would actually do that. As we see it, the studio chose to delay the Suicide Squad game to let it breathe. They want the backlash to die down even just a bit or perhaps to buy more time for themselves to convince gamers that live-service games can still be great. But that is just how we see the situation playing out. Maybe Rocksteady is indeed making an extra effort to address the game’s glaring issues. We certainly wouldn’t mind being proven wrong.
