Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League - What Happened?

Matt McMuscles
27 Apr 202434:47

Summary

TLDRThe video script details the tumultuous development and eventual launch of 'Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League,' a game by Warner Brothers Games and Rocksteady Studios. Initially met with skepticism from Batman fans, the game underwent numerous delays, staff changes, and creative direction shifts. The title, which was not a traditional Batman game, faced challenges from its announcement in 2010 to its eventual release. The game's development was plagued with issues, including a need for constant internet connection, a grindy gameplay loop, and a controversial monetization model. Despite being developed by the reputable Rocksteady, the game failed to meet expectations, with poor critical reception and declining player counts post-launch. The script also discusses the departure of Rocksteady's founders and the broader implications for the AAA gaming industry, particularly concerning live service games.

Takeaways

  • 🚀 The development of 'Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League' was fraught with challenges, starting from its announcement to its eventual release, facing criticism from fans and numerous delays.
  • 🎮 Warner Brothers Games Montreal initially worked on the project before it was moved to Rocksteady Studios, the developer behind the successful 'Arkham' series.
  • 🔄 There were multiple cancellations and shifts in development direction, with the project starting as early as 2010 and undergoing significant changes over the years.
  • 💣 The game's development was further complicated by a need for an online multiplayer focus, which was a departure from Rocksteady's previous single-player narrative-driven games.
  • 📉 The game's launch was met with technical issues and server problems, leading to a poor critical and commercial reception.
  • 📈 Despite the negative response, Warner Brothers expressed intentions to double down on live service games, indicating a continued commitment to this model for future titles.
  • 🤝 The departure of Rocksteady's founders, Jamie Walker and Seon Hill, during the development of 'Suicide Squad' likely had an impact on the project's direction and team morale.
  • 🌐 The game required a constant internet connection and featured a battle pass system, which was met with significant backlash from fans.
  • 📊 Sales and player numbers for 'Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League' dropped significantly after launch, failing to meet expectations and leading to a tough year for WB's games business.
  • 🚧 Delays in the game's release were attributed to the desire to deliver the best quality project, but ultimately did not prevent the game's underwhelming performance.
  • 🎉 The game did have some positive moments, such as the inclusion of Kevin Conroy's final portrayal of Batman, but these were not enough to save the game's reception.

Q & A

  • What was the initial reaction of Batman fans to the announcement of a Suicide Squad game by Warner Brothers games and Rocksteady Studios?

    -The initial reaction of a significant portion of Batman fans was negative. This was primarily due to the game not featuring Batman as the main character and other reasons that will be discussed in the video.

  • Why did Warner Brothers decide to move forward with the development of a Suicide Squad game despite fan opposition?

    -Warner Brothers had been attempting to develop a violent cooperative supervillain team game for 14 years, and despite fan opposition, multiple delays, and issues, they decided to proceed with the project.

  • What was the original plan for WB Games Montreal after they completed Arkham Origins?

    -After completing Arkham Origins and its DLC, the main staff at WB Games Montreal moved on to their next unannounced project, which was a Suicide Squad game.

  • What was the connection between the Suicide Squad game and the cinematic release of The Suicide Squad?

    -Warner Brothers aimed to develop a film to make the team of unstable villains a household name, which coincided with the development of the Suicide Squad game.

  • What happened to the initial Suicide Squad game concept developed by WB Games Montreal?

    -The initial Suicide Squad game concept developed by WB Games Montreal was eventually cancelled. The reasons for the cancellation included negative reception to the film and dissatisfaction from WB executives with the progress of the game.

  • How did the development of the Suicide Squad game impact Rocksteady's work on other projects?

    -The Suicide Squad concept was shifted over to Rocksteady after it was cancelled at WB Games Montreal. This move likely affected Rocksteady's work on other projects, including a potential multiplayer project and a rumored Superman game.

  • What was the working title of the Batman title that WB Games Montreal was pre-producing while working on Suicide Squad?

    -The Batman title that WB Games Montreal was pre-producing while working on Suicide Squad was known under the temporary working title of 'Project Sabbath'.

  • What was the reported reason for the delay of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League until 2022?

    -The delay was attributed to the desire to deliver the best quality project. However, the game was further delayed into 2023 and eventually to February 2024 due to ongoing development challenges.

  • What were the controversies surrounding Rocksteady during the development of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League?

    -Controversies included a report of a toxic work environment at Rocksteady, with allegations of sexual harassment and abuse. Additionally, there were high-profile and sudden exits of key personnel, including the founders of Rocksteady.

  • How did the launch of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League perform in terms of sales and player reception?

    -The game underperformed both critically and commercially. It fell short of expectations, experienced a significant drop in player count, and received negative reviews due to technical issues and dissatisfaction with the game's design.

  • What was Warner Brothers' response to the underperformance of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League?

    -Despite the poor reception, Warner Brothers announced that they would continue to invest in live service games and planned to double down on this approach, aiming to expand the longevity of their game franchises.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Introduction to Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League's Development Saga

The video script begins by setting the stage for a deep dive into the development history of 'Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League'. It discusses the initial lack of enthusiasm from Batman fans and the game's evolution over many years, despite fan disapproval and numerous challenges. The narrative touches on the game's announcement, development hurdles, and the shift in development from WB Montreal to Rocksteady Studios, known for their work on the Arkham series. It also mentions the concurrent work on 'Batman: Arkham VR' and how it influenced the development timeline.

05:01

😶 The Cancellation of WB Montreal's Suicide Squad and Transition to Rocksteady

This paragraph delves into the cancellation of the Suicide Squad game by WB Montreal and the subsequent shift of the project to Rocksteady Studios. It outlines the critical reception of David Ayer's 'Suicide Squad' film and its impact on the game's development. The summary also touches on WB Montreal's pivot to a different project, 'Gotham Knights', which was initially a Damian Wayne-centric game. The narrative highlights the challenges faced by WB Montreal and the eventual transformation of their unannounced projects due to various factors, including leaks and a shift in direction.

10:03

😟 The Challenges and Controversies of Rocksteady's Development

The third paragraph focuses on the difficulties and controversies that Rocksteady faced during the development of 'Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League'. It discusses the game's transition to a live service model, the technical challenges of creating an online multiplayer game, and the high employee turnover within the company. The narrative also addresses the impact of the delays caused by story rewrites and the competitive AAA game development environment in London. Additionally, it mentions the negative fan reaction to the game's requirement of an internet connection and the inclusion of a battle pass system.

15:03

😡 Public Backlash and Delays Leading to Suicide Squad's Release

This section covers the public backlash against 'Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League' due to its live service model and the multiple delays that pushed the game's release further into the future. It details the initial hype surrounding the game, the disappointment from fans expecting a traditional single-player Batman experience, and the subsequent delays that affected the game's development and release. The narrative also highlights the controversy surrounding the game's requirement of a constant internet connection and the inclusion of downloadable content.

20:06

😞 The Launch Disaster and Founders' Exit from Rocksteady

The fifth paragraph discusses the problematic launch of 'Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League', including technical issues and player dissatisfaction. It outlines the various bugs that players encountered, the game's poor critical reception, and the significant drop in player count following its release. The narrative also covers the departure of Rocksteady's founders, Jamie Walker and Seon Hill, and the impact of their exit on the studio and the game's development. Additionally, it mentions the commercial underperformance of the game and the challenges faced by the development team in the aftermath of its launch.

25:07

😤 WB's Commitment to Live Service Games Despite Setbacks

The final paragraph addresses Warner Brothers' continued commitment to the live service game model, despite the failure of 'Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League'. It highlights the company's plans to double down on live service titles and the announcement of a new Harry Potter live service game. The narrative criticizes the decision to continue with this model, given the recent failures, and questions the strategic direction of the company. It also expresses hope for Rocksteady's survival post the debacle and invites viewers to share their thoughts on similar situations in the gaming industry.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Warner Brothers games

Warner Brothers games (WB Games) is a video game publisher and a part of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. It is mentioned in the script as the company that has been involved in the development and publishing of the discussed video game, 'Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.' The company's role is central to the video's narrative as it oversees the game's production and release.

💡Rocksteady Studios

Rocksteady Studios is a British video game developer known for its work on the Batman: Arkham series. In the context of the video, Rocksteady Studios took over the development of 'Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League' after the project was initially handled by another studio. The studio's involvement is significant as it connects to the expectations and eventual criticism of the game.

💡Suicide Squad

Suicide Squad refers to both the comic book series and the team of antiheroes within the DC universe, as well as the video game 'Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League' which is the central topic of the video. The game's narrative and development issues are tied to the Suicide Squad's characters and their transition from comic book to video game medium.

💡Games as a Service (GaaS)

Games as a Service (GaaS) is a model in the gaming industry where a game is considered a service that is continually updated and monetized over its lifetime, often featuring online components, microtransactions, and downloadable content (DLC). The video discusses how the GaaS model was applied to 'Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League,' which influenced its design and reception.

💡Live Service

Live Service refers to a type of video game that is continually updated and maintained after its initial release, often requiring an internet connection and offering new content over time. The video highlights the live service nature of 'Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League' as a point of contention among fans who were expecting a traditional single-player experience.

💡Co-op Multiplayer

Co-op Multiplayer is a game mode where multiple players work together towards a common goal within the game. The script discusses the shift in focus towards co-op gameplay in 'Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League,' which was a departure from the single-player focus of previous Rocksteady games.

💡Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk 2077 is a reference to another high-profile video game that faced significant criticism upon release due to bugs and performance issues. The video uses Cyberpunk 2077 as a comparison to illustrate the challenges and expectations surrounding the launch of 'Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.'

💡Metacritic

Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews and provides a weighted average score for films, games, and music. In the context of the video, Metacritic is mentioned as a source of aggregate review scores, which placed 'Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League' lower than other titles, indicating its critical reception.

💡JB Paret

JB Paret is the head of WB Games, as mentioned in the video. He is cited as expressing the company's commitment to the live service model for their games, despite the underwhelming performance of 'Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.' His statements are used to highlight the corporate strategy behind the game's development and the broader approach of WB Games.

💡State of Play

State of Play is a series of live streamed presentations by Sony Interactive Entertainment that focus on video games developed for PlayStation consoles. The video references the State of Play event where extended gameplay for 'Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League' was shown, leading to significant fan backlash and criticism.

💡Kevin Conroy

Kevin Conroy was a renowned voice actor known for his iconic portrayal of Batman in various animated series and video games. The script mentions his involvement with 'Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League' as his last portrayal of the character before his passing. His contribution is significant as it adds an emotional and nostalgic element to the game's narrative.

Highlights

Warner Brothers games and Rocksteady studio's latest game, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, has had a troubled development history.

The game was not initially well-received by Batman fans, partly due to it not featuring Batman as the main character.

WB Games Montreal, known for Arkham Origins, took over the project after Rocksteady was busy with Batman Arkham VR.

The concept of a cooperative super-villain team game was attempted multiple times over 14 years before moving forward.

The Suicide Squad game's development began as early as 2010, initiated by former DC entertainment Chief Creative Officer, Jeff Johns.

WB Montreal's Suicide Squad game was unofficially confirmed but was eventually cancelled, leading to the project being handed over to Rocksteady.

The cancellation of WB Montreal's Suicide Squad game was reportedly due to WB executives not being impressed with the progress.

Rocksteady, known for the Arkham series, had to pause development for story rewrites, causing further delays.

High employee turnover and adaptation to a games-as-a-service model contributed to the game's multiple delays.

The game's requirement for an internet connection, battle pass, and downloadable content were unpopular with fans.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League faced technical issues and bugs post-launch, impacting its reception.

The game's founders, Jamie Walker and Seon Hill, left Rocksteady a year before the game's launch.

Suicide Squad underperformed commercially and critically, with declining player counts post-launch.

WB Discovery's CFO acknowledged that the game fell short of expectations, leading to a tough year for the games business.

Despite the poor reception, WB Games plans to double down on live service games, aiming to develop a Harry Potter live service game.

The development history and launch issues of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League serve as a cautionary tale for the gaming industry.

Transcripts

00:04

[Music]

00:08

[Applause]

00:09

[Music]

00:14

hello and welcome to another episode of

00:17

what happened where I am dispensing with

00:20

the usual intro due to the remote

00:21

control device in the back of my skull

00:23

that will go off if I take too long

00:25

thanks Waller so do let me get straight

00:28

to it Warner Brothers games and

00:31

Rocksteady studi latest effort is a

00:33

title that from the time of its

00:35

announcement to its eventual release

00:37

wasn't exactly desired by a hefty chunk

00:41

of Batman fans with one of the main

00:44

reasons being it no it's not a Batman

00:48

game but for a multitude of reasons that

00:51

we'll be getting into WB went forward

00:54

with the squad anyhow in fact they tried

00:58

several times to go forward with the

01:00

idea of a violent Cooperative super

01:02

villain Team game over the course of 14

01:06

years and nothing not the please of fans

01:09

nor multiple delays snags problems and

01:12

sudden departures was ever going to

01:15

change that so grab your mallets

01:18

boomerangs various laser firing

01:19

artillery and tons of battle pass

01:21

exclusive gear as I answer the question

01:24

what happened to Suicide Squad kill the

01:27

Justice League

01:30

I can tell you this for free there's a

01:33

lot of backstory to this one like an

01:35

obscene amount of backstory so let's

01:37

just dive bomb right into it after

01:40

rocksteady's Arkham Knight released back

01:42

in 2015 which psychic damage was almost

01:47

a decade ago fans started to wonder what

01:50

was taking so long for the highly

01:52

respected London based Studio to

01:54

announce their next big project some of

01:56

you out there however may remember they

01:58

were busy for a another year or so

02:01

developing the unmemorable Batman Arkham

02:04

VR this is important to our story

02:07

because it meant that wb's plans to push

02:10

the suicide squad had to fall to someone

02:13

else at least at that time that someone

02:16

else would be WB Games moral who are

02:20

best known as the developers of the

02:22

redheaded stepchild of the Arkham verse

02:25

Arkham Origins it it's literally in its

02:28

name to this day I don't know why this

02:31

prequel is intentionally ignored and

02:34

never included in remasters or

02:36

re-releases but yeah it is what it is I

02:40

guess anyway once WB Montreal completed

02:43

Origins and its DLC their main staff

02:46

moved on to their next unannounced

02:48

project which then caused outside of

02:51

some support work for other WB owned

02:53

Studios a huge gap in their work history

02:57

this unannounced project was in fact a

03:00

Suicide Squad game which well yeah was

03:03

never made official official has had

03:05

enough evidence linked to it over the

03:07

years to safely confirm there was of

03:10

course Warner Brothers push to start

03:12

developing a film to hopefully make this

03:15

team of unbalanced nerell as a household

03:18

name then there was the fact that both

03:20

Arkham Origins and its companion game

03:23

Blackgate implied that the squad were

03:25

going to be throwing their uh Kookie

03:28

deranged hats into the video game ring

03:31

although these hints would feature some

03:33

characters that wouldn't actually appear

03:35

in the release product or at least not

03:39

yet maybe I don't know but honestly

03:42

before all that I I mean that's not even

03:45

where all this technically begins

03:48

because even though WB Montreal started

03:51

working on suicide squad in Earnest in

03:53

late 2013 maybe early 2014 to coincide

03:57

with the in development movie the

04:00

origins of the game start all the way

04:02

back to

04:03

2010 yeah you heard that right former DC

04:07

entertainment Chief creative Officer

04:09

Jeff Johns said in a San Diego ComicCon

04:12

panel that a hardcore violent Suicide

04:16

Squad video game was in development but

04:18

provided no details other than that now

04:22

WB Montreal was only just founded in

04:25

2010 so it might be that the project

04:28

actually started up at a completely

04:30

different Studio or it had just kicked

04:33

off P production in Montreal by a much

04:35

smaller team while the majority of the

04:37

workforce focused on Arkham Origins if I

04:41

was a betting Skeleton Man I think it's

04:43

more likely the latter because Mr John's

04:46

dropped more hints that such a game was

04:48

still in development in 2012 which moves

04:51

it closer to when WB Montreal would be

04:54

available but we can't be absolutely

04:57

sure I did reach out to two former staff

05:00

members who were at the studio during

05:02

that relevant time period but their only

05:05

comment was sadly no comment and get

05:08

used to that by the way and really

05:11

despite the facts that we do have I

05:14

wouldn't be surprised if there was a

05:16

third studio in the mix at some point I

05:19

mean hell even in 2024 we just found out

05:23

that monolith had been working on an

05:24

open world Nolan verse game that

05:27

featured the first implementation of

05:29

their Nemesis system so yeah crazier

05:32

[ __ ] has happened and crazier [ __ ] will

05:35

indeed

05:36

[Music]

05:39

continue what we do know for sure is

05:41

that WB Montreal's main team moved on to

05:44

Suicide Squad but like most AAA Studios

05:48

they also had another smaller team doing

05:50

pre-production on their next project

05:53

that being a Batman title starring Damen

05:56

Wayne and a crumbling dystopian Gotham

05:59

City which we'll get to in a bit it's

06:01

now roughly 2016 and David 's cinematic

06:05

adaptation of The Suicide Squad relased

06:07

to a very divisive I.E negative critical

06:10

backlash due to a Multiverse of reasons

06:13

that it actually might need its own what

06:16

happen story someday although I really

06:18

don't want to anyway once the Fallout

06:20

from the film started leveling off

06:22

reports began popping up that WB tongue

06:26

Cluckers and beard Strokers had decided

06:29

to Deb at the bomb that was lodged deep

06:31

within their Montreal Studio on Al

06:33

living their would be team of villains

06:36

now this cancellation might have had

06:38

something to do with the primarily

06:40

negative reception to the film or any

06:43

number of other outside factors but the

06:45

only confirmed one was what various

06:48

Outlets reported on which was that WB

06:51

execs were not impressed with what the

06:53

Montreal team had produced and

06:56

apparently that was enough to ax the

06:58

whole thing

07:00

this is where we finally make the

07:02

connection back to Rock Steady As The

07:04

Suicide Squad concept was then shifted

07:07

over to them which we'll get to in a

07:10

second I swear but I'd be remiss if I

07:12

didn't at least finish up with WB

07:15

Montreal with their main in development

07:18

project now snatched away they then

07:20

shifted to their secondary one the AFF

07:22

forementioned Damian Wayne concept which

07:25

was known under the temp working title

07:27

of project Sabbath somewhat ironically

07:31

it was reported along with a whole bunch

07:33

of other stuff that it was going to use

07:35

the Nemesis system that monolith had

07:38

repurposed from their cancell Batman

07:40

game and into Shadow of Mordor yo big

07:43

UPS to my boy garl the drunk I love you

07:46

baby it was in 2019 however that this

07:49

information along with the general plot

07:52

cast of characters and a significant

07:54

amount of concept art mysteriously

07:56

leaked onto the internet but by the time

07:58

it had Sabbath was already long dead it

08:02

seems sometime between 2016 and 2018

08:06

Damian Wayne's cape and cowl were ripped

08:09

away and perhaps incorporating the Co-op

08:13

multiplayer work they had started with

08:14

Suicide Squad Sabbath turned into what

08:17

we know today as Gotham Knights it's

08:20

very common for Studios to not just

08:22

throw away good designs and code and

08:25

instead find ways to repurpose them for

08:27

other projects and that's really likely

08:30

what happened here although I can't 100%

08:33

confirm it again the former staff

08:35

members I reached out to remain tight

08:37

lipped on this but if you look at the

08:39

Timeline well it really works out

08:42

especially when you consider when Gotham

08:44

knights was publicly revealed related to

08:47

this earlier this year the legendary

08:49

Josh Keaton wow said in a live stream he

08:53

had done several recording sessions as

08:55

Damen Wayne which shows just how far

08:58

along the game really was was he also

09:00

revealed it was not an Arkham verse

09:03

title and theorized that the reason the

09:05

entire project fell apart and was

09:07

cancelled was because of the leaks now

09:11

no disrespect to the man but that

09:13

doesn't really make sense logistically

09:15

because the leaks only happened in 2019

09:18

and Gotham knights was unveiled in 2020

09:21

so the cancellation or perhaps the

09:24

transition into a very different open

09:26

world Co-op game had to have happened

09:28

well before that it also doesn't make

09:31

sense from a financial standpoint cuz

09:33

why would a publisher just cancel a game

09:36

because some details of it got leaked

09:38

like games leak out all the time anyway

09:41

during all of this Rock Steady had their

09:44

own [ __ ] going on according to reports

09:47

they were working on a multiplayer

09:49

project that may or may not have been a

09:51

completely new all original Ip the other

09:55

thing they were working on according to

09:56

the internet at large was the fable

09:59

Superman game The Last son of Krypton

10:02

has had one of the worst streaks of

10:04

stinkers in video game history as pretty

10:07

much every solo game he's ever had isn't

10:10

really worth having and yeah I know this

10:12

sucks to say but I'm counting death and

10:14

returns in there too it's just it's just

10:16

disappointing you know just really

10:17

repetitive drawn out kind of boring and

10:20

the mechanic anyway the rumors of rock

10:22

steady working on a game starring The

10:24

Man of Steel wouldn't seem to die even

10:27

though they were just that rumors

10:30

according to a Bloomberg report from

10:32

earlier this year Rock said he basically

10:35

confirmed a soups game was never worked

10:37

on or ever even pitched so as far as I

10:40

can tell this was just a lot of Wishful

10:43

Whispers moving on their mysterious

10:46

multiplayer project seemed to go nowhere

10:50

or perhaps again the work done on it

10:52

might have been adapted to support the

10:54

suicide squad but I couldn't find

10:56

confirmation on that either remember the

10:59

no comment I got from the WB Montreal

11:02

employees well that goes doubly so with

11:05

most of the former Rock steadiers I also

11:08

contacted as you can imagine since kill

11:11

the Justice League is just a few months

11:13

old and WB being a pretty litigious and

11:16

let's be honest miserly company I didn't

11:19

expect many people willing to dish out

11:21

industry Secrets there was however one

11:24

anonymous source I spoke to that did

11:26

give me a shred of insight into Suicide

11:28

Squad once it had shifted over to rock

11:31

steady they revealed that the game's

11:33

development was put on pause while story

11:35

rewrites were happening in the

11:37

background which of course would have

11:39

slowed things down across several

11:41

disciplines while they weren't able to

11:42

provide details on what these story

11:44

changes were considering all we've

11:46

learned so far it could have been

11:48

literally anything if I was to Hazard a

11:51

guess though it may have been due to

11:52

complication surrounding the next

11:54

Suicide Squad film which went through

11:57

several writers and directors all

11:59

throughout 2016 to late 2018 which in

12:02

turn kept pushing back the release date

12:05

and could have possibly affected other

12:07

Suicide Squad projects my source also

12:10

cited to other things that may have

12:12

accounted for the multiple delays High

12:14

employee turnover and getting acclimated

12:17

to the games as a service development

12:19

pipeline my source wanted it to be noted

12:22

that this High turnover was not due to

12:24

dissatisfaction within rock steady but

12:27

rather the AAA Game Dev environment in

12:30

London which they described as very

12:32

competitive senior employees were often

12:35

getting headhunted and offered way more

12:38

money to join other Studios and while a

12:40

number of them would take up these deals

12:43

they would either get dissatisfied with

12:45

these new positions or suddenly be laid

12:47

off and return to Rocksteady once again

12:51

related to that Rocksteady upper

12:52

management also had to hire a consultant

12:55

with expertise in games as a service

12:58

development to evangelize the team and

13:01

get them educated on everything and

13:03

online action Co-op RPG had to offer as

13:07

at the time that's where the industry

13:09

looked like it was heading the only

13:12

other thing I can confidently put

13:13

forward though is that developing

13:15

Suicide Squad was undoubtedly a

13:18

technical nightmare as rock steady

13:20

talented as they may be hadn't really

13:23

tackled anything with the level of scope

13:25

and complexity that many modern online

13:28

games tend to to offer when they started

13:30

working on the Arkham Trilogy they

13:32

ramped up their development and ambition

13:35

in smooth and logical ways tightly

13:37

designed interconnected biomes with

13:40

clever and detailed level designs

13:42

expanding out into an open world that

13:44

was conservative in scope while still

13:47

offering plenty to do and explore and

13:49

finally adapting that City to support a

13:52

large vehicle for players to Traverse

13:54

the map while turning the graphical

13:56

Fidelity up to 12 so going from that to

13:59

having to design the very

14:01

architecturally different metropolis and

14:03

gameplay Loop that has to work with four

14:06

players killing dozens of enemies online

14:09

across multiple platforms as well as

14:11

stuffing as many different modifiers

14:13

stats weapons gear micro transactions

14:16

and DLC as the cackling corpse like WB

14:19

corporate Fat Cats wanted well I'm sure

14:22

it was a very stressful few years and

14:25

unfortunately all that effort and stress

14:27

would all be for not when Rock Steady

14:30

finally did announce kill the Justice

14:32

League at the August 2020 edition of

14:34

wb's short-lived DC fandom event there

14:38

was of course much grumbling from fans

14:41

it had been 6 years since there had been

14:43

a traditional singleplayer Batman game

14:46

and after the fandom event it seemed

14:48

like WB and its Associated Studios were

14:51

making anything but that this is because

14:55

they didn't announce one but two titles

14:57

that put a heavy fot focus on Co-op

15:00

multiplayer they're all about stats loot

15:02

season passes and not controlling Batman

15:06

now I know what some of you are going to

15:08

say why on Earth would they Greenlight

15:11

two of these things when the Square Enix

15:13

and Crystal Dynamics live service

15:15

Avengers game flopped so horribly well

15:18

time makes fools of us all because that

15:21

wasn't even out yet the fandom event was

15:24

held in August while Avengers failed to

15:27

assemble the following o October but

15:30

what about much later like when the

15:32

Avengers player count started to

15:34

suddenly dip well when your knee deep in

15:36

Triple A development and millions upon

15:39

millions of dollars and years upon years

15:41

of work are at stake when something gets

15:44

publicly announced in 99% of cases it's

15:47

far too late to Pivot or backpedal the

15:50

following has been said lots of times

15:52

and I'm going to say it again but when

15:54

something becomes hot like fortnite or

15:56

destiny lots of Publishers start rubbing

15:59

their hands together going oh this is

16:01

this is the new hot [ __ ] let let's do

16:03

that but given the prolonged nature of

16:06

video game development by the time they

16:08

actually release their version of that

16:10

popular thing it's far far too late and

16:13

they often end up failing in spectacular

16:16

and embarrassing ways Suicide Squad did

16:19

have one Saving Grace during its first

16:21

big reveal though and that was the fact

16:23

that its first trailer was all CGI and

16:26

bereft of any real gameplay so for a

16:28

sizable chunk of fans the benefit of the

16:31

doubt was being given sure this clearly

16:34

wasn't the shiny nextg Batman sequel

16:37

from a series that had sold over 30

16:39

million units worldwide but well it was

16:42

still rock steady and they had a proven

16:45

track record however that same track

16:48

record would be tarnished that same

16:50

month when a report began to circulate

16:53

that back in

16:54

2018 10 of rocksteady's 16 female

16:57

employees signed a letter of complaint

17:00

to the studio heads citing a toxic work

17:03

environment that fostered sexual

17:05

harassment demeaning comments and

17:07

various other forms of abuse this

17:09

scathing report would go on to reveal

17:11

that rock steady did very little to

17:13

reprimand or correct the behavior aside

17:16

from a single 1-hour seminar on proper

17:19

workplace etiquette once this story

17:22

broke out Rocksteady management did

17:24

confirm that the 2018 letter of

17:26

complaint had been filed

17:29

contrary to the new report said they did

17:32

take extensive measures to fix these

17:34

issues one female employee wound up

17:37

quitting the company altogether and

17:39

asked for Rocksteady management to

17:40

remove her name from the credits of

17:42

Suicide Squad as she no longer wanted to

17:45

be associated with this studio clearly

17:48

though things were not running all that

17:50

smoothly and this controversy wasn't

17:53

going to be the only one as it then

17:56

seemed to set off a chain reaction of NE

17:58

negative headlines massive delays fan

18:01

backlash and two high-profile and very

18:05

sudden

18:09

exits during the fandom event Suicide

18:12

Squad was given a loose 2022 launch

18:15

window but come March of 2022 they still

18:18

hadn't narrowed that down unfortunately

18:20

when Rock Steady did share news about

18:22

the release date they admitted it was

18:24

going to shift by a lot namely skipping

18:27

the entire year all together and moving

18:30

into another nebulous early

18:32

2023 the reason given of course was the

18:35

usual want to deliver the best quality

18:37

project thank you for your patience yada

18:39

yada yada and don't get me wrong that's

18:41

a good thing I mean I shudder to think

18:43

of the product that would have been

18:45

released if WB had insisted on a 2022

18:49

launch that wasn't however going to be

18:51

the only delay far from it just a few

18:55

months later at the 2022 Please wrap it

18:58

up Awards this early 2023 date then

19:01

shifted slightly again to Mid 2023 May

19:05

26 to be precise it would also include

19:07

the special mention that it would be

19:09

Kevin Conroy's last time portraying

19:11

Batman as he sadly passed away the month

19:14

earlier rip to a legend the bad [ __ ]

19:17

though really hit the fan during the

19:19

February 2023 state of play event or an

19:23

extended gameplay sequence was shown of

19:25

The Suicide Squad bouncing around

19:27

Metropolis talking in incessantly and

19:29

shooting guns and lasers at brightly

19:32

colored things during this long

19:34

presentation and the subsequent FAQ that

19:37

was posted online afterwards Rock Steady

19:39

confirmed the fears of many fans Suicide

19:42

Squad would need a constant internet

19:45

connection to play would have an

19:46

elaborate battle pass and would

19:48

consistently offer new downloadable gear

19:50

weapons costumes and characters on top

19:53

of that much like you guessed it The

19:55

Avengers game funnily enough around the

19:58

time this state of play aired online it

20:01

was announced that Avengers would no

20:02

longer be receiving any new content or

20:05

characters as Crystal Dynamics was now

20:07

moving on to other projects yeah not at

20:10

all a red flag is it WB the response to

20:13

this new Gameplay trailer and all that

20:16

horrible stuff I mentioned didn't go

20:18

down well I was met with plenty of

20:20

vitriol from many fans who just wanted a

20:23

good narrative-based singleplayer

20:25

superhero game something that outside of

20:27

a few key examples seem to be getting

20:29

rarer and rarer now at the time this

20:32

trailer aired kill the Justice League

20:34

was still slotted in as a May 2023

20:37

release so it took many by surprise that

20:40

just one month before that rock steady

20:42

decided to pump the brakes and announce

20:45

another massive delay this time to

20:48

February 2nd

20:50

2024 just going by the dozens of other

20:53

examples we've seen in the past this was

20:55

in all likelihood a delay designed to

20:57

fix massive amounts of bugs and

20:59

technical issues that the team just

21:01

weren't able to crack in time because

21:03

despite the many complaints fans lobbied

21:06

at the state of play reveal nothing

21:08

about kill the Justice League's in-game

21:10

economy or gameplay style would wind up

21:12

changing the official reason for this

21:14

next Mammoth delay was pretty much the

21:16

same one they said last time we have

21:18

made the tough but necessary decision to

21:20

take the time needed to work on getting

21:22

the game to be the best quality

21:23

experience for players thank you for our

21:25

amazing Community for the continued

21:27

support Pat I and understanding there is

21:30

much more to share in the months ahead

21:31

and we look forward to seeing you in

21:33

Metropolis next year now some fans the

21:36

most sweet innocent and naive ones mind

21:38

you took this delay as a good sign Rock

21:41

Steady had to know players were not

21:43

happy about well a lot of stuff so there

21:47

was some hope that this delay was not

21:49

only for polishing but by taking

21:50

consumer feedback into consideration and

21:53

an extensive bout of retooling but as I

21:56

outlined earlier this just wasn't going

21:58

to be the reality there was no way with

22:01

WB at the helm at least that suicide

22:03

squad's entire in-game economy SL scam

22:07

was going to be redesigned and there was

22:09

even more no way that the game playay or

22:12

mechanics would change either as it was

22:15

just simply too late for that remember

22:17

the game was nearing 2 years behind

22:20

schedule already and honestly in my

22:22

opinion the only reason it wasn't

22:23

squirted out sooner at wb's insistence

22:26

was probably rocksteady's Pedic agree

22:29

and push back from its Founders well

22:31

I've covered plenty of stories here on

22:33

what happened where a publisher does

22:35

take a step back looks at a near

22:37

completed project and says uh no yeah

22:39

this this isn't working let's just cut

22:41

our losses before we lose even more

22:43

money and cancel the whole damn thing

22:45

now while WB Discovery movie division

22:49

seems to be all about that shitty life

22:51

it's slightly different for video games

22:53

nowadays years upon years of more work

22:56

and in many cases way more money gets

22:59

poured into AAA gaming over say a movie

23:02

depending on its scope but the ceiling

23:05

for profits can sometimes be even higher

23:08

also you'll notice that most of the near

23:10

finish games I've covered before were

23:12

from earlier Generations where budgets

23:15

were significantly smaller than they are

23:17

today so in summary I guess by this

23:20

point after so many false starts and

23:23

cancelled pitches by multiple Studios

23:25

dating back to 2010 uh shifting over to

23:28

their Premier developer in full

23:30

production for at least 5 years and

23:32

promoted for two of them there was no

23:34

way WB was going to cancel or delay

23:37

Suicide Squad any longer the hype

23:40

machine had to start spinning but it was

23:42

going to be and stay a very uphill

23:45

battle quite frankly the Press did not

23:48

sugarcoat this situation as online

23:50

previews of Suicide Squad from an event

23:53

in January 2024 just a few weeks away

23:56

from launch were largely negative as

23:59

many outlets cited uncertainty about

24:02

pretty much everything journalists and

24:04

reviewers took issue with the now

24:06

familiar grindy nature of the gameplay

24:09

the messy UI the technical performance

24:12

just uh you know previews tend to be

24:14

pretty optimistic at the very least but

24:16

this time no one was pulling their

24:18

punches and you know it has to be said

24:20

that while a good portion of this

24:22

negativity was due to the game itself

24:24

burnout from this particular subgenre

24:27

must have been a Factor too as fans and

24:29

journalists have experienced the same

24:31

type of gameplay Loop pretty regularly

24:34

for the last few years including you

24:36

know superhero based ones and with all

24:39

the big hot hardcore gaming season

24:42

titles I've covered here on what

24:43

happened I've never seen the usually

24:45

glowing early previews be less than

24:49

glowing at least CD project red had the

24:52

foresite to only allow coverage of the

24:54

PC version of cyberpunk and Rockstar

24:57

Allowed no previews at all of the GTA

24:59

definitive collection [ __ ] show so

25:02

really the numbers did not lie and they

25:04

spelled disaster for rock steady and

25:07

Warner Brothers at Sac release

25:09

[Music]

25:12

day and so a disaster it indeed was

25:16

suicide squad's launch was played with a

25:18

Litany of problems bugs and backlash as

25:21

a part of the deluxe edition players

25:23

were given 72 hours of early access to

25:26

the game but because of a bizarre issue

25:28

that marked players progress as 100%

25:31

complete before even booting it up

25:33

servers had to be taken down for

25:35

maintenance to fix the Boo Boo and since

25:37

it's an online only game no one was able

25:40

to play it during that downtime which as

25:43

you can imagine made many gamers happy

25:46

those affected were given a a 2,000

25:50

Luther bucks which equated to around $20

25:53

of real world currencies so uh yeah not

25:56

off to a good start of course the game's

25:59

online connectivity in general was also

26:01

a big problem as even weeks after launch

26:03

roxet were still trying to crack down on

26:06

issues that were causing players to

26:07

desync or get booted from a session Al

26:10

together subsequent patches actually

26:12

made things worse for some players as

26:14

they weren't able to properly level

26:16

their characters or gear While others

26:18

would run into the infamous loading

26:20

Metropolis bug which wouldn't let

26:22

players progress at all because of all

26:25

of this the community for the game even

26:27

some of its stous and most Brave

26:30

Defenders started turning against it

26:32

sting immense dissatisfaction with all

26:34

these bugs the prospect of having to

26:37

kill and not play as some of their

26:39

favorite Heroes but of course the

26:40

monetization model as well it's bad

26:43

enough when the fully priced game you

26:45

paid for lacks basic functionality it's

26:47

another thing when that fully priced

26:49

game you paid for that's not working is

26:51

also constantly trying to incentivize

26:53

you to spend your money it should be no

26:56

surprise then that kill the Justice

26:57

League's aggregate review scores placed

26:59

it lower than both Avengers and Gotham

27:02

Knights and as the issues in bad press

27:04

began to pile up its player count

27:06

drastically went down but uh to some

27:09

Publishers critical reception can uh

27:12

sometimes be a little less of an

27:14

important factor when compared to

27:16

commercial reception and fortunately in

27:18

respect to Suicide Squad that actually

27:21

wasn't the case it just barely made the

27:23

top 10 of the bestselling games of

27:25

February 2024 according to NP PD numbers

27:29

being beaten out by the likes of 2023 is

27:32

Madden release Tekken 8 ff7 rebirth and

27:35

Hell divers 2 in slightly better but

27:38

still worse news Suicide Squad was the

27:41

number one game in the UK during the

27:43

first few days of its launch but fell to

27:46

third the next week and then 13th the

27:49

week after that while player counts are

27:51

hard to track across all platforms steam

27:54

numbers paint a pretty Grim picture when

27:56

the game launched it peaked at around

27:58

13,000 players which then nose dived

28:01

into three digits by the end of February

28:04

and as of the time of this writing it

28:06

regularly varies between 3 to 400

28:09

players

28:11

now okay during all these trials and

28:14

tribulations something that certainly

28:16

could have helped was strong experienced

28:18

leadership leadership who could rally

28:21

the team take decisive action and work

28:23

towards bettering the product in a

28:25

timely manner unfortunately that precise

28:27

type of experience wasn't really

28:29

available to Suicide squads developers

28:31

during its launch as the founders of

28:34

rock steady who had led on all their

28:36

games up to that point had left the

28:38

studio and had left the studio for a

28:42

while Jamie Walker and seon Hill in a

28:45

joint statement with Warner Brothers

28:46

explained that they were leaving after

28:48

18 years with the reason being as vague

28:51

as you'd expect a Suicide Squad killed

28:54

the Justice League nearly finished they

28:56

have both decided to leave Rock Steady

28:58

at the end of 2022 and will begin a new

29:01

adventure in gaming now it's typical

29:04

that towards the end of a given project

29:06

some creative leads feel that their job

29:08

is done so they decide to seek new

29:10

challenges elsewhere the problem is like

29:13

he was on all of rocksteady's Arkham

29:15

games sepon hill was suicide squad's

29:18

creative director and if you check your

29:20

dates his departure was not just 2 to 3

29:24

months before launch but rather over a

29:26

full year James Walker's departure

29:29

wasn't insignificant either because

29:31

while he didn't work on most games

29:33

directly in a creative sense who is

29:35

rocksteady's Studio director so he was

29:38

at the head of its daily operations now

29:41

obviously when these two exits were

29:43

planned and then announced Suicide Squad

29:46

was still on track for its early 2023

29:50

release but then it got delayed the full

29:52

year to 2024 and the studio was now

29:55

without two of its key people it's it's

29:58

not exactly known what prompted the

29:59

sudden exit if there was any other

30:01

factors aside from the official reason

30:03

and try to act surpris here I wasn't

30:06

able to contact either Mr Walker or Mr

30:09

Hill in time for this video honestly

30:11

just like many elements to Suicide

30:13

squads very messy development there

30:15

could be a multitude of reasons for

30:18

their departure perhaps they did feel

30:20

the game was in good hands and simply

30:22

didn't think a big delay was forthcoming

30:25

perhaps they were tired of working under

30:27

the WB umbrella or were not supportive

30:29

of the games as a service business model

30:32

that was being pushed or perhaps they as

30:34

the figureheads and leaders of

30:36

rocksteady's work culture were given a

30:39

diplomatic way to quietly exit the

30:41

studio regardless of the reason both

30:44

Hill and Walker announced earlier this

30:46

year they were opening another London

30:48

based studio called 100 star games and

30:51

would be focusing on yet again the AAA

30:54

gaming space meanwhile Warner Brothers

30:57

exact had their own announcement in

30:59

regards to Suicide Squad and it wasn't

31:02

nearly as positive IGN was the first to

31:05

report that in an earnings called WB

31:08

discoveries CFO simply said this year

31:10

Suicide Squad one of our key video game

31:13

releases in 20124 has fallen short of

31:15

our expectations since its release

31:17

earlier in the quarter setting our games

31:19

business up for a tough year-over-year

31:21

comp in q1 and things do seem like

31:25

they're going to remain tough at least

31:27

you for a while despite recently

31:30

released Joker content the clown Prince

31:33

of Crime doesn't seem to be moving the

31:35

needle much at all and at this point

31:37

many don't believe it ever will while

31:39

turnarounds aren't unheard of cut to the

31:42

only two examples we really have it's

31:45

difficult seeing kill the Justice League

31:46

somehow reverse its fortunes anytime

31:49

soon or ever really you can pinpoint a

31:52

lot of these poor decisions on upper

31:53

management in some way or another and

31:56

while hindsight is indeed 20 it's

31:58

nevertheless easy to see where the

32:00

better paths were not taken letting WB

32:03

Montreal continue their version of

32:05

Suicide Squad and letting Rock Steady

32:07

cook allowing the single player Damen

32:10

Wayne game to continue uh Gotham Knights

32:13

being the IP to shift over to rock

32:15

steady instead of Suicide Squad or you

32:17

know maybe not wasting everyone's time

32:19

with another grindy live service title

32:21

when there's more than enough to go

32:23

around but sadly the most mystifying

32:26

thing of all is WB recent Proclamation

32:29

that not only were they going to

32:31

continue live servy games they're going

32:35

to double down on them as reported by

32:38

Gamespot during a Morgan Stanley

32:40

billionaires circle jerk event the head

32:43

of WB Games JB paret said so rather than

32:47

just launching a kind of one-on-one

32:49

console game how do we develop a game

32:51

around for example Harry Potter that is

32:54

a live service where people can continue

32:56

to live and work work and build and play

32:59

in that world on an ongoing basis we

33:02

have a road map and a Strategic

33:03

investment plan to try and build out

33:05

that business and we think there is

33:08

Meaningful growth over the course of the

33:10

next couple of years it's not just

33:13

expanding the longevity in the life

33:15

cycle so that you're not going from a

33:17

release of a Batman title one year and

33:20

then sort of it goes dormant for 3 or 4

33:23

years if we can execute on this strategy

33:25

it also allows that franchise to live on

33:28

dayto day week to week on a much more

33:31

consistent basis so you're nurturing

33:33

that fan base no you're not it was

33:36

literally proved you proved that you

33:38

can't just bolt on this model to

33:41

anything and everything and expect

33:43

success like this interview happened a

33:46

full month after suicide squad bombed

33:48

and years after the Avengers did like

33:52

like what the [ __ ] is wrong with you I

33:55

just statements like this thinking like

33:59

this proves that some men just want to

34:02

watch the world burn let's just hope

34:05

Rock Steady somehow survives this

34:07

debacle but in the meantime if you out

34:09

there know of any other cursed comic

34:11

book Capers let me know in the comments

34:14

below or enter whatever that the suicide

34:17

squad hangs out in place that is my

34:21

social media see you next time and

34:23

thanks for watching

34:28

n

34:31

[Music]

34:38

[Music]

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