Support NeoGAF

[tkscz]

It makes no sense to me why any company would make any DC IP into a game other than Batman when ever single DC movie flops harder then the one before it.

Batman is one of their big IPs but so are Superman, wonder woman, Aquaman and Flash. The reasons the movies did poorly was because Batman v Superman and Justice League. Those two left a taste so bad in the average viewer's mouth so bad they just didn't want more, even if it was good (SHAZAM got the shaft).
Merchandising wise those names are as big as they ever been, especially the big three.
Honestly a Suicide Squad game could've worked but holy shit did this game go thru it before even being released. Nearly 3 YEARS without a word or preview. The moment we hear something about it again we hear it's a GaaS and we hear about it a little after the release of that terrible Avengers GaaS game. We stay seeing leaks that the game is just terrible. The game had Rocksteady behind it which would have at least brought in the Arkham crowd but when you look at everything else about it, that would matter little.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Super hero games like Batman and Spider-Man are respected, so taking a chance on another hero is out of bounds.

 

[Lord Malachite]

That's fine. I'm not arguing that it made a ton of money or that it was well received. I'm just saying that it actually sold ok and that WB did market the game. So it wasn't "sent out to die" quite like a lot of the other examples mentioned here.

Gotham Knights is another instance where the hype for it turned sour the more that was learned about it. The initial reveal was exciting, and most Arkhamverse fans were on board with a new universe and getting to play as the Bat Family. Then more kept coming out. The garbage leveling system, grinding for bits and bobs to gain infinitesimal upgrades, more time in menus than gameplay, live service looter shooter mechanics squashed into an SP/co-op game, 30fps lock on PS5 and Series, poor traversal, poor writing, uninspired combat generations behind the freeflow system. By the time summer 2022 rolled around, Gotham Knights had lost a significant portion of its good will and was looking to massively underperform. The fact WB was letting it go for 50% off only 3 weeks post-launch speaks that sales were very lackluster and it needed a shot in the arm.

Perhaps the game didn't lose money. But as someone who loves the Arkham games, I can download and play Gotham Knights for free via PS+ anytime I want. And I have zero intention of ever doing so. I can't think of a single compelling reason to suffer through that. I'd rather spend 60 hours watching Batman & Robin thirty times, because I feel it would be a more productive use of my time.

Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League is the kind of game that looks so bad, I'd rather play through Gotham Knights thrice than it once. That's like,180 viewings of Batman & Robin. Think about that.

 

[hyperbertha]

I don't know why they keep trying to make suicide squad a thing. Both movie flopped, now this game is going to flop. Maybe figure out that Suicide Square is not an ip with any widespread appeal?

The game was greenlit well before both movies released iirc. They thought it was going to be the next big thing. A gamble. I hope they pay for it.

 

[mdkirby]

In addition to anthem, redfall, avengers, To a lesser extent, I’d probably also add forspoken to that list. It did have a shit ton of marketing around it, which usually demonstrates faith in the product, but before release there was still far and away enough negative sentiment around it that suggested a guaranteed flop.

 

[Perrott]

Gotham Knights is another instance where the hype for it turned sour the more that was learned about it. The initial reveal was exciting, and most Arkhamverse fans were on board with a new universe and getting to play as the Bat Family. Then more kept coming out. The garbage leveling system, grinding for bits and bobs to gain infinitesimal upgrades, more time in menus than gameplay, live service looter shooter mechanics squashed into an SP/co-op game, 30fps lock on PS5 and Series, poor traversal, poor writing, uninspired combat generations behind the freeflow system. By the time summer 2022 rolled around, Gotham Knights had lost a significant portion of its good will and was looking to massively underperform. The fact WB was letting it go for 50% off only 3 weeks post-launch speaks that sales were very lackluster and it needed a shot in the arm.

Perhaps the game didn't lose money. But as someone who loves the Arkham games, I can download and play Gotham Knights for free via PS+ anytime I want. And I have zero intention of ever doing so. I can't think of a single compelling reason to suffer through that. I'd rather spend 60 hours watching Batman & Robin thirty times, because I feel it would be a more productive use of my time.

Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League is the kind of game that looks so bad, I'd rather play through Gotham Knights thrice than it once. That's like,180 viewings of Batman & Robin. Think about that.

Hmmm, I bet you didn't get to play the alpha.

You'd be surprised at how the great storytelling, top-notch production values and attention to detail that we've come to expect from Rocksteady are all still there. Plus, each character presents you with gameplay mechanics so different from one another that it'd be hard for you to not find a style that suits you, assuming that you enjoy TPS games like inFAMOUS, Crackdown or Sunset Overdrive to begin with.

The game was greenlit well before both movies released iirc. They thought it was going to be the next big thing. A gamble. I hope they pay for it.

Yeah, this project was conceived back in 2010 initially and it was actually the reason why Warner Bros. Games Montreal was first established (then, when the opportunity arised, they took on the development of Arkham Origins as a way to attract talent, make a first game together as a team and tease their upcoming Suicide Squad game).

Nearly 15 years in the making.

 

[Kikorin]

Agents of Mayhem
Saint's Row reboot

These even killed Volition, I hope Rocksteady will survive, cut the useless new staff and will develop a new Batman game.

 

[Lord Malachite]

Hmmm, I bet you didn't get to play the alpha.

You'd be surprised at how the great storytelling, top-notch production values and attention to detail that we've come to expect from Rocksteady are all still there. Plus, each character presents you with gameplay mechanics so different from one another that it'd be hard for you to not find a style that suits you, assuming that you enjoy TPS games like inFAMOUS, Crackdown or Sunset Overdrive to begin with.

None of these games you mentioned are ones I enjoy playing. I can't see a thing in the gameplay of Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League that makes me want to play the game. The gameplay loop I've watched is a celebration of everything I don't like in video games. I don't care if the game's story is the greatest DC narrative ever done, I don't want to have to suffer through the gameplay for it.

 

[Pejo]

Well Saint's Row reboot pretty much single-handedly killed Volition and was assuredly part of why Embracer buckled, and literally nobody was happy that the game was coming out in the state it released in. But with that game, at least the fans were passionate and trying to tell the devs that they weren't gonna buy it. All I see from Suicide Squad is memes and malaise. Maybe indifference too.

 

[crackajack]

Yeah, this project was conceived back in 2010 initially and it was actually the reason why Warner Bros. Games Montreal was first established (then, when the opportunity arised, they took on the development of Arkham Origins as a way to attract talent, make a first game together as a team and tease their upcoming Suicide Squad game).

Nearly 15 years in the making.

Sure, there is no full abort option after such a time, but like with Avengers, there should probably have been a point where someone decides that their approach and in this case the entire IP might not work. Many of the DC movies don't work that great, Marvel is also in decline, but Spiderman movie and game still sells. Which should hint that salvaging one or more SP games out of it might have been an interesting better option for Avengers before and Squad now. But I guess Fortnite initially wasn't the immediate hit in previews either, so everyone just wants to hope for that. Fortnite's success might look entirely different if they had not added BR kinda last minute, when BR was still fresh, but I don't see anyone seeing anything substantial in SQ. Even if it is supersolid, no one really cares about them anyway? Which makes fullfilling some due to superhero stuff high expectation almost impossible. So a possibly truly bad concept, and trying to polish it might never work.

Avengers could easily have been an at least okay Ironman, Hulk, Captain, Thor game, still shortly after successful Endgame, but those dumbasses focused on a story for Elastigirl, and put everyone in a repetitive mishmash grind game and forced the beloved characters to be supporting actors. Here no one really cares for the Squad to begin with, maybe Harley, so with the movies not really elevating their popularity, they should have shifted focus, reskinned it or whatever, and maybe switch to SP years ago. Maybe look for entire different characters in the Warner pool. Swamp thing, Constantine, Sandman, Green Lantern, Rorschach and maybe create a whole new Squad/League themself or actually just do their very own characters if they truly want to make some GaaS with a bunch of characters. Fortnite, Apex, Valorant, LoL, Destiny don't rely on IPs, or at least licensed stuff came only later. SQ movies were received barely better than The League of extraboring gentleman so latest with the second shot at it, they should have pulled the plug and go another route.

 

[Perrott]

Sure, there is no full abort option after such a time, but like with Avengers, there should probably have been a point where someone decides that their approach and in this case the entire IP might not work. Many of the DC movies don't work that great, Marvel is also in decline, but Spiderman movie and game still sells. Which should hint that salvaging one or more SP games out of it might have been an interesting better option for Avengers before and Squad now. But I guess Fortnite initially wasn't the immediate hit in previews either, so everyone just wants to hope for that. Fortnite's success might look entirely different if they had not added BR kinda last minute, when BR was still fresh, but I don't see anyone seeing anything substantial in SQ. Even if it is supersolid, no one really cares about them anyway? Which makes fullfilling some due to superhero stuff high expectation almost impossible. So a possibly truly bad concept, and trying to polish it might never work.

Avengers could easily have been an at least okay Ironman, Hulk, Captain, Thor game, still shortly after successful Endgame, but those dumbasses focused on a story for Elastigirl, and put everyone in a repetitive mishmash grind game and forced the beloved characters to be supporting actors. Here no one really cares for the Squad to begin with, maybe Harley, so with the movies not really elevating their popularity, they should have shifted focus, reskinned it or whatever, and maybe switch to SP years ago. Maybe look for entire different characters in the Warner pool. Swamp thing, Constantine, Sandman, Green Lantern, Rorschach and maybe create a whole new Squad/League themself or actually just do their very own characters if they truly want to make some GaaS with a bunch of characters. Fortnite, Apex, Valorant, LoL, Destiny don't rely on IPs, or at least licensed stuff came only later. SQ movies were received barely better than The League of extraboring gentleman so latest with the second shot at it, they should have pulled the plug and go another route.

I don't think the problem here is a mismatch of IP and videogame, but actually the way they designed this project. I mean, giving King Shark a shotgun already tells you everything that's wrong with this game at a purely conceptual level.

The Suicide Squad IP lends itself well to a videogame, better than most licensed IPs in general I'd say, and the fact that you can throw pretty much any characters from DCs rogue gallery at it as your protagonists gives you plenty of freedom to do pretty much any kind of game you want.

The way I believe it should've been done was through a linear singleplayer third-person action/adventure game in the vein of Uncharted, averaging at around 15 hours in length, with a focus on setpieces and character switching as seen in GTA V.

 

[Gaiff]

Suicide Squad was sent to die by committing suicide.

 

[K' Dash]

Horizon got curb stomped by BOTW.

 

[Moses85]

Game was already dead within its Development

 

[Werewolf Jones]

Horizon got curb stomped by BOTW.

BOTW, P5, Nier Automata. It had no chance.

 

[yurinka]

Has a AAA game ever been sent out to die like Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League?​

No, it's just another big budget game that tanked, something that happened a ton of times since over 4 decades ago. Not all games sell like CoD, Mario or Spider-Man.

Horizon got curb stomped by BOTW.

Last time they updated sales a year ago it had sold over 24M. It's one of the best selling Sony exclusives ever.

 

[soulbait]

Ya'll remember how much hype was around Brute Force? It was going to be the next Halo. My buddies and I were hyped for it. Got it all on the same day to play co-op in it.


It sucked.


Killed the studio, I think. What a disappointment.

 

[Vyse]

I don't think the problem here is a mismatch of IP and videogame, but actually the way they designed this project. I mean, giving King Shark a shotgun already tells you everything that's wrong with this game at a purely conceptual level.

The Suicide Squad IP lends itself well to a videogame, better than most licensed IPs in general I'd say, and the fact that you can throw pretty much any characters from DCs rogue gallery at it as your protagonists gives you plenty of freedom to do pretty much any kind of game you want.

The way I believe it should've been done was through a linear singleplayer third-person action/adventure game in the vein of Uncharted, averaging at around 15 hours in length, with a focus on setpieces and character switching as seen in GTA V.

Sounds like the Guardians of the Galaxy game which turned out to be a good game.

 

[Black_Stride]

One of the co-founders of DMA Design the creators of widely successful series Grand Theft Auto had a studio and game that was touted as Grand Theft Auto Online before Grand Theft Auto Online was a thing.

I bet you dont even remember that the game actually came out and was rereleased like 3 times.

And before you say this game wasnt/isnt AAA it had a 100+ million dollar budget in the 2010s......to put things into perspective it cost almost double what Gears of War 3 costs and rivalled the costs of Grand Theft Auto 4.

 

[Starbuck2907]

Yes, just consider almost any AAA live service game that released unfinished, with overly grindy gameplay loops, and lots of bugs. They may keep the servers open to avoid lawsuits, but plenty of them are basically left to die.

 

[nial]

Horizon got curb stomped by BOTW.

If it was sent out to die, then it damn fucking survived.

Horizon Zero Dawn Celebrates its First Birthday, Surpasses 7.6 Million Sales

Guerrilla celebrates with massive PlayStation Store discounts, free avatars and a new PS4 theme.

blog.playstation.com

Horizon Zero Dawn Celebrates Second Anniversary, 10 Million Copies Sold Worldwide

Learn lesser-known details from the development of Horizon Zero Dawn, straight from Guerrilla.

blog.playstation.com