Support NeoGAF

[TonberrysKnife]

Rumor: Warner Bros. Discovery Discussing Shuttering Rocksteady After Sweet Baby Inc. Influenced 'Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League' Disaster

A new rumor claims that Warner Bros. Discovery is having internal discussions about shutting down Rocksteady after the developer's Sweet Baby Inc. influenced Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League game instantly became a financial failure and forced the company to take a $200 million impairment...

thatparkplace.com

I didn't see any articles on this yet. Although it wouldn't be a surprise, it would be a fucking shame. To see how far they've fallen. From Urban Chaos and Arkham Asylum to the disaster of Suicide Squad.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Damn. How the mighty have fallen.

Everything it touches turns to shit.

 

[rm082e]

Is Rocksteady even the company many of us loved anymore? My impression was most of the creative minds behind the Arkham games had left.

Not that I ever want to see anyone lose their jobs. It just doesn't seem like there's any hope for them to make great games like the Arkham series again. If that's accurate, I won't feel bad about them going away.

 

[Dacvak]

 

[alstrike]

That is a shit source

 

[cormack12]

Is Rocksteady even the company many of us loved anymore? My impression was most of the creative minds behind the Arkham games had left.

Yeah real Ship of Theseus vibes here.

 

[StereoVsn]

. Not surprising, but still a terrible outcome. And it’s the damn Rocksteady management themselves largely responsible for the disaster.

 

[jm89]

They had a blueprint for success and threw it all away.

People are thirsty af for another batman arkham game.

 

[SlimySnake]

Jason just wrote an article that said the complete opposite. The studio is very small by todays standard and they fucked up only because of WB executive meddling. The execs have no case to shut them down unless they want to fire themselves as well.

 

[Fabieter]

 

[FoxMcChief]

It’s not the same developer anymore anyways, so who cares?

 

[DeepEnigma]

Jason just wrote an article that said the complete opposite. The studio is very small by todays standard and they fucked up only because of WB executive meddling. The execs have no case to shut them down unless they want to fire themselves as well.

They'll never admit they were wrong. See: Disney

 

[Punished Miku]

Jason just wrote an article that said the complete opposite. The studio is very small by todays standard and they fucked up only because of WB executive meddling. The execs have no case to shut them down unless they want to fire themselves as well.

WB is hurting on every front financially, not just gaming. Anything is possible.

Wonder Woman is also a mystery.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

I think the game they delivered was well made.

They just rubbed players wrong way.

Its basically a single player title with GAAS elements. Not even a full on GAAS title.

 

[FoxMcChief]

They had a blueprint for success and threw it all away.

People are thirsty af for another batman arkham game.

One is coming out this fall.

 

[feynoob]

The industry is fked.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

God damn, how many times do we have to see this same depressing story play out.

At this point, just assume that any major western-developed game that’s been in development since 2017-2018 timeframe is going to be a woke POS that flops and kills the studio.

 

[Sanepar]

Why is so hard to give a greenlight for a sp batman game for them?

 

[xrnzaaas]

Old Rocksteady is already gone, my bet is they wouldn't be able to deliver a high quality game without excessive woke bits even if they were allowed to make a non-live service title.

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

Rumor: Warner Bros. Discovery Discussing Shuttering Rocksteady After Sweet Baby Inc. Influenced 'Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League' Disaster

A new rumor claims that Warner Bros. Discovery is having internal discussions about shutting down Rocksteady after the developer's Sweet Baby Inc. influenced Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League game instantly became a financial failure and forced the company to take a $200 million impairment...

thatparkplace.com

I didn't see any articles on this yet. Although it wouldn't be a surprise, it would be a fucking shame. To see how far they've fallen. From Urban Chaos and Arkham Asylum to the disaster of Suicide Squad.

It's just such a plainly shitty thing to watch happen, and not be able to do anything about.

Amazing studio with storied history is asked to do something they've never done before > Studio agrees to do it, per publisher request > Everyone observing knows it's not going to do well > Publisher refuses to pivot and just makes them keep making this product that is not expected to do well > Product launches and predictably doesn't do well and is a commercial flop > Studio is punished by being down-sized, or shuttered > Management that forced them to make shitty product in the first place is totally unscathed, and goes on to ruin something else

 

[Killjoy-NL]

The industry is fked.

Underperform and get canned.

Goes for any studio. Same as why Zipper, Evolution and London Studios got closed.

I think people should seperate emotion from business.

 

[Kenneth Haight]

Give me 4K 60 on the old games and I’ll buy them again. Chumps had gold-dust and fucked it up by being greedy

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

Underperform and get canned.

Goes for any studio. Same as why Zipper, Evolution and London Studios got closed.

I think people should seperate emotion from business.

The issue is Rocksteady *was an amazing studio that produced best-in-class single-player games and were extremely successful. Publisher interference forced them to make a live-service game they had zero experience making. As is our shitty model of the modern era of human indecency and ineptitude, the wrong people are being punished.

 

[N0S]

 

[adamsapple]

Let's wait for a better source.

Jason just wrote an article that said the complete opposite. The studio is very small by todays standard and they fucked up only because of WB executive meddling. The execs have no case to shut them down unless they want to fire themselves as well.

This is a pretty trash website, just look at the homepage and you'll see.

Their sourcing is useless.

 

[Ozriel]

Jason just wrote an article that said the complete opposite. The studio is very small by todays standard and they fucked up only because of WB executive meddling. The execs have no case to shut them down unless they want to fire themselves as well.

Jason’s article pins even more of the blame on Rocksteady’s leadership team.

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

Jason’s article pins even more of the blame on Rocksteady’s leadership team.

The underlying cause of the issue with leadership was the studio was being forced to make a game in this genre/model that they had zero experience in. That's the whole reason this all fell apart and what led to the ultimate disaster at last year's SoP reveal, and then the predictably horrible launch reception.

Bean counters on the C-suite floor meddling, with no actual experience or subject matter knowledge. And hence the shitty, predictable result.

 

[Ozriel]

I think people should seperate emotion from business.

That’s for execs

People here are consumers. Their side of the equation is the ‘emotion’ side.

 

[Punished Miku]

The issue is Rocksteady *was an amazing studio that produced best-in-class single-player games and were extremely successful. Publisher interference forced them to make a live-service game they had zero experience making. As is our shitty model of the modern era of human indecency and ineptitude, the wrong people are being punished.

Honestly, they made 1 great game. Not exaggerating. Arkham Asylum is phenomenal. I love it to this day, and it's still basically just ripped off for Spider Man which sells a ton.

All they did after that was repeat the same thing, but make it open world, abandoning a lot of the interesting level design. Arkham Knight was a great looking game visually too, so they have that. And the Batmobile controlled well enough, so that's something new.

The jury was out that whole time on if they could ever really make a 2nd game. Personally, I think they could have. Suicide Squad still looks pretty fun. Could have made a sick super hero campaign with different heroes I bet in a single player game.

 

[skit_data]

The most sad thing about all of it is that one could see it coming from a mile away. As soon as the studio heads left it became pretty clear what sequence of events would follow IMO. I assume that Suicide Squad and Redfall might be the the indirect reason The Last of Us MP development was shut down -
Putting a single game developer on a multiplayer project might end up being a total shitshow that possibly kills the studio.

Lots of people integral to single player game development might pack their stuff and leave. If the game bombs you have spent years of development, can't recoup costs effectively and you're stuck with a studio which entire infrastructure is now different from what made them a name in the industry in the first place.

Sure, there are exceptions to the rule but it's pretty surprising some publishers didn't seem to account for it. Or maybe the sad truth is that they probably did and said "fuck it" while sacrificing good single player developers on the altar of GaaS.

 

[Robb]

 

[Draugoth]

I got worried for a second then i saw the source.

The Source is a random Youtuber and the article is from a culture website, dont take it seriously.

 

[Punished Miku]

The most sad thing about all of it is that one could see it coming from a mile away. As soon as the studio heads left it became pretty clear what sequence of events would follow IMO. I assume that Suicide Squad and Redfall might be the the indirect reason The Last of Us MP development was shut down -
Putting a single game developer on a multiplayer project might end up being a total shitshow that possibly kills the studio.

And I honestly still don't really understand why. It's just weird that studios are so narrowly focused now. Pretty sure Nintendo took a bunch of people that never made a shooter or multiplayer game and came up with Splatoon, and then ran free GAAS drops for years off it.

Back in the day studios used to make different types of games. I guess they just can't do it anymore.

 

[balls of snow]

Source is some culture war deep in the trenches chick. Come on son. At least wait for the more reliable people.

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

The most sad thing about all of it is that one could see it coming from a mile away. As soon as the studio heads left it became pretty clear what sequence of events would follow IMO. I assume that Suicide Squad and Redfall might be the the indirect reason The Last of Us MP development was shut down -
Putting a single game developer on a multiplayer project might end up being a total shitshow that possibly kills the studio.

Lots of people integral to single player game development might pack their stuff and leave. If the game bombs you have spent years of development, can't recoup costs effectively and you're stuck with a studio which entire infrastructure is now different from what made them a name in the industry in the first place.

Sure, there are exceptions to the rule but it's pretty surprising some publishers didn't seem to account for it. Or maybe the sad truth is that they probably did and said "fuck it" while sacrificing good single player developers on the altar of GaaS.

Yep. C-suite executives. The bean counters. Everything they know comes from a spreadsheet and wanting to earn more money than they did before. It's a lack of subject matter knowledge, as well as tunnel-vision and not being able to see the big picture.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

That’s for execs

People here are consumers. Their side of the equation is the ‘emotion’ side.

I'm a consumer and I don't get emotional over these things.
If you want to keep your job, you have to meet your employer's criteria.

Just common sense.

The issue is Rocksteady *was an amazing studio that produced best-in-class single-player games and were extremely successful. Publisher interference forced them to make a live-service game they had zero experience making. As is our shitty model of the modern era of human indecency and ineptitude, the wrong people are being punished.

Haven't been following Rocksteady, but the pieces of news I did caught onto makes it seem their games were underwhelming regardless of the Gaas aspect.

 

[GymWolf]

On one hand, the first 2 batman games were great, especially the first one.

On the other hand they brought the absolute plague and saving grace of lazy devs that is free flow combat into gaming so i'm just gonna be mildly sad if they close down.

 

[MrRibeye]

Coincidentally, a guy I know at Rocksteady announced his departure. Don't know if that's a sign.

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

Haven't been following Rocksteady, but the pieces of news I did caught onto makes it seem their games were underwhelming regardless of the Gaas aspect.

Huh?

Their last three games (since 2009), 92, 94, 87 Metacritic. 2009, 2011 and 2015. Because of the complete disaster of WB management trying to turn them into a live-service studio, they went from 2015-2023 and in all that time since Arkham Knight, only managed to release one shitty game. Not sure what news you're referring to, but prior to Suicide Squad, Rocksteady had a stellar reputation.

 

[Plague Doctor]

It's only Rocksteady in name alone. The vast majority of the devs that made the old games amazing are long gone for years now.

 

[CherryFalls]

Another one bites the dust

 

[Killjoy-NL]

Huh?

Their last three games (since 2009), 92, 94, 87 Metacritic. 2009, 2011 and 2015. Because of the complete disaster of WB management trying to turn them into a live-service studio, they went from 2015-2023 and after all that only released one shitty game.

How about sales? You can make the best game in the world, but if people don't care about it, you failed at your job.

 

[ResilientBanana]

Is Rocksteady even the company many of us loved anymore? My impression was most of the creative minds behind the Arkham games had left.

Not that I ever want to see anyone lose their jobs. It just doesn't seem like there's any hope for them to make great games like the Arkham series again. If that's accurate, I won't feel bad about them going away.

I mean, some of the leaders for sure. But the production value on Suicide Squad surely dictates that they do have some talented individuals there. As far as I know, it also did not come out as a buggy mess of a game. This is unfortunate news, but chances are, a lot of the good ones might end up at Hundred Star Games.

 

[BennyBlanco]

guess it really was a suicide squad. deeply retarded to not simply make another Batman game. They saw what happened with the far more popular Avengers IP and a spectacular flop of a GaaS game, and said “yea we want to do what those guys did”.

 

[Pop]

Don't feel too bad for um

It was Rocksteady idea to do that dogshit

 

[Flabagast]

The source seems really bullshit

 

[DeepEnigma]

some culture war deep in the trenches chick

This should have been on the front of the box for 'Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League'

 

[rm082e]

I'm a consumer and I don't get emotional over these things.
If you want to keep your job, you have to meet your employer's criteria.

Just common sense.

SS:KTJL was clearly a case of the executive team setting a goal for Rocksteady that they had no chance of meeting. They set them up for failure. If that team is then blamed for the failure and laid off, and the executive team doesn't take any responsibility for the failure, that's a shitty situation.

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

How about sales? You can make the best game in the world, but if people don't care about it, you failed at your job.

Asylum sold ~9.5 million. Arkham City sold ~12.5 million copies. Knight sold ~7 million. In no way were any of those games not considered hugely successful, critically or commercially.

Again, the issue was being forced by upper management at WB to make something they had no experience making. Prior to Suicide Squad, Rocksteady had a stellar reputation in the industry.

 

[balls of snow]

This should have been on the front of the box for 'Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League'

After what happened with Tales of Kanzera recently, both are two sides of the same coin. Deserve each other forevermore.