Suicide Squad Giving Up Weekly Updates Is Just The Beginning Of The Inevitable

The overuse, and then the eventual closure of live services has become a commonplace occurrence these days. Just because certain games succeeded with this formula, doesn’t mean it is universally applicable. Understanding how to sustain it is important; live services are not just easy money. However, despite excessive failures, the pursuit of the genre hasn’t died down.

Sometimes, an initial look into a game is enough to tell you that “this one is doomed.” Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was one of those games, and that inevitable is now closer than you think.

Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League’s Days Are Numbered

Ever since Suicide Squad came out, its reception has been far from ideal. After the mess that was Marvel’s Avengers, people were tired of this absurd mindset ruining just about every game. I’ll be honest, Suicide Squad is an excellent concept for a video game, but a single-player one. When a game I was eagerly waiting for turned out to be a live service, you can imagine my disappointment.

Turns out, I wasn’t the only one. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was practically overrun with complaints and backlash, which was evident in its dwindling performance. Ever since the launch, its player count just kept on decreasing. Subsequent updates did nothing to remedy this; the downfall continued.

I can’t believe that’s Suicide Squad. ****. Like ill keep an open mind, Rocksteady don’t miss yadda yadda but absolutely nothing about that gameplay (or storytelling) hit for me. Can’t imagine playing that loop for months or years as intended. God I hope I’m wrong.

— Skill Up (@SkillUpYT) February 24, 2023

And now, it looks like the game is finally on its last legs. Until recently, Rocksteady was consistent with updating the game and trying to remedy the situation as much as possible. But now, even the developers have given up on it. Suicide Squad will stop receiving any weekly updates now, and only some “big news” will be communicated now.

You and I both know what this means. The “fateful” day is close.

An Irredeemable Game Since Day One

No matter how many updates and content Rocksteady fills Suicide Squad with, you can’t fix something flawed from its roots. I’m a firm believer that superhero games best work as a single player. The moment you went the live service route, one so blatantly misplanned, the result was inevitable.

“live service games”
byu/proviking6000 inmemes

The first problem arose with the core gameplay elements. Not only does Suicide Squad play as a generic looter shooter, but the fact that every unique character just forgets they have their personalized arsenal and picks up guns was the biggest dishonor to these beloved characters. Couple that with an insulting representation of some iconic heroes, and the game was bound to fail.

That’s not all. The game’s excessive focus on looting, worthless micro stats, a boring and repetitive gameplay loop, and the abundance of senseless microtransactions just added fuel to the fire. This fire was bound to consume the game someday, and that day might not be that far now.

Rocksteady’s Folly And WB’s Agenda

It all becomes extra shocking when you realize just who was responsible for a mess like this. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is a game from Rocksteady, the company responsible for the unrivaled Batman Arkham series. Arkham games are the pinnacle of the superhero genre; their influence extends far and wide. When a company that created this masterpiece came up with Suicide Squad, the entire world was bewildered.

To me, Arkham Knight is the best of the series. Best gameplay, suits, graphics, details, atmosphere. Also it has Photo Mode. I love driving the Batmobile around. Having the ones from the movies is a dream come true. The game has flaws, but the good outweighs the bad. Super proud of this screenshot.
byu/Daredevil731 inBatmanArkham

However, if you start digging, you’ll see that there was ample reason behind it all. First, Suicide Squad was WB’s idea, one Rocksteady was forced to execute. The tech giant’s misguided pursuit of the live service money-making scheme knows no bounds. It’s ready to turn all of its major franchises into live services, nothing is safe.

When Rocksteady was compelled to work on this, there were bound to be some problems. Although we don’t know what went wrong, something definitely happened that led to the Rocksteady heads and Arkham series creators Jamie Hill and Sefton leaving the company, alongside many other creative minds. Rocksteady, now a shell of its past self, was bound to fail.

Rocksteady Studios co-founders Sefton Hill and Jamie Walker have made the decision to leave the studio at the end of 2022. Nathan Burlow and Darius Sadeghian will step up into the role of Studio Director and Studio Product Director.
Read more here: https://t.co/RESAfX9L66 pic.twitter.com/SScXbfxB1q

— Batman Arkham Videos (@ArkhamVideos) October 26, 2022

Thus, Suicide Squad’s demise can be traced back to multiple layers of corporate greed and internal politics.

Suicide Squad Should Serve As A Warning

With its inevitable doom near, I’ll go ahead and say that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was always a disappointment and everything a superhero game should never be.

I thought after Marvel’s Avengers’ demise, companies will tread lightly. Yet here we are, another superhero live service now on the verge of extinction, but the concept still not seizing. Yes, I mean Marvel Rivals, another generic hero shooter around the corner. Unfortunately, no lesson is being learned from all these failures.

The time is still ripe to start avoiding this mess. If Marvel’s Avengers was not an example enough, let Suicide Squad be another one to steer clear of this. I just hope we get creative and enjoyable superhero games, like Batman and Spider-Man, not more live service screw-ups like Suicide Squad.