Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League May Already Be Finished; Here’s Why That Matters

Rocksteady’s recent looter-shooter title, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, started with a rocky start to say the least. With a massive game-breaking bug on the very first day, followed by devastating reviews from both fans and critics, it quickly became obvious that the game wasn’t going to be received as well as the studio may have hoped. Despite this, Rocksteady seemingly was going to remain committed to improving the title.

“Our developer updates will change from being weekly to releasing them when we have big news to share about future content. We hope this will make the release of each new update an exciting event.” – Rocksteady

While some fans might’ve thought this could have resulted in a No Man’s Sky-esque comeback, it’s clear now that this won’t be happening. The studio has recently announced that it won’t be announcing weekly changes anymore. Instead, developer updates will be reserved for “big news” moving forward. This could be the first step towards scaling back efforts for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Here’s why that matters.

Unfinished Promises

Prior to the game’s release, fans were told that the game would get at least four seasons’ worth of content after it came out. This would have introduced new characters, stories, and cosmetics for the title. But with how things are going right now, it does seem unlikely that the studio will live up to that promise. This is outright unfair to players who might have bought the game with that expectation in mind.

To be fair to Rocksteady, it hasn’t entirely mentioned that it’s done with the game. But Rocksteady choosing to stop its weekly developer updates, coupled with some not-so-optimistic reports released by Jason Scherier, make it so the writing is on the wall for the game’s future. Earlier this year, players took a poll on how quickly the game’s development would cease.

At the time, the majority of players believed the game would go on for a year at least. But it’s clear that even meeting that could be a tough challenge for Rocksteady. It’s a lose-lose situation for the studio. If they continue delivering on the promised four seasons, they’ll be spending resources and money that could better be spent elsewhere. But to abandon the title entirely, would be a huge black spot on their already dwindling reputation.

A Huge Blow To Live Service Games 

While it’s unlikely that the industry will entirely abandon its focus on live service games, the slow painful death Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League has gone through, should at least ruffle some feathers in other studios. The thing is, when these games work out well, they’ve got the potential to become a massive franchise that goes on for literal years. Just take a look at how much money Fortnite pulls in for Epic Games.

“Warner Bros. Says the Failure of Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League Contributed to a $200 Million Hit to Revenue”
byu/Flipus123 inSuicideSquadGaming

But the reverse can also be true, and is frankly, much more likely. It’s also possible the game gets almost no traction and ends up failing before it can even reasonably get started. In this case, developers are locked into promises they no longer have any intention of delivering on because there’s just no one playing your game. That seems to be Rocksteady’s position right now, and it’s not an easy place to be in, that’s for sure. 

In any case, it’s clear players have chosen to vote with their wallets this time around. The fact that so few players actually bothered with this title should be a good lesson for the studio on where to put their resources and development efforts in the future. If it stops even a single studio from taking what could’ve been a decent title, and frankenstein-ing their way into a live service game, it might be worth it.