Yeah I agree, but I think it's inevitable that they transition out of the business at some point. Given the pressures on their streaming/cable/movie/TV business (good luck to them keeping ratings up on TNT if they lose the NBA contract, and even if they "win" the NBA contract it'll be at 2+x what they pay now), they're probably headed for another round of mergers and I don't know if the gaming business will survive that.
Honestly, with how WB is nowadays, if another company could 100% buy Rocksteady they'd also be able to just buy the Batman license from WB and have them work on it. Wouldn't even need to swap them over to Marvel characters or anything. Like, we're talking about the company that sold a Batman cartoon to Amazon instead of using it to boost their own service.
With how many IP's they hold with the DC license alone, I'm surprised they haven't done that already. They'll never make a Flash or Green Arrow game in house, why not give it to somebody else?
The idea of this GAAS Wizard game where after dozens of hours your character still feels lame and underpowered because you haven't beaten enough daily challenges sounds so depressing.
I think the other poster notes that they've had a couple of "super highs" that convince them to stick to it every so often: the Batman games have historically done well, and there's Mortal Kombat of course as well as Middle Earth games.
Warner's had some standout years like 2015 and 2023 where the business worked so well that it convinces them to stick to it.
But the lows are just as brutal as the euphoria of the highs in gaming, so I do think they'll go the IP licensing route (i.e. only profits, no losses) at some point, but it probably requires some kind of long drought of success (especially if Hogwarts or Batman really rolls over and stops selling well or MK tanks).
Either that or if there's another round of media mergers, you probably see the whole division sold off to pay off WBD's debt.
Disney never really had great success in gaming, just years of losses compared to Warner, so it was easier for Disney to just wash their hands off it (especially when they have a giant theme parks/cruise division that's extremely capital intensive).
Publishers have unfortunately learnt that basically no amount of failed live services will ever outweigh the money gained when one succeeds so they are all going to keep trying. At least my wallet is happier the last couple of years and looks to be even more so in the future
thats already most harry potter games these days on mobile, from what ive seen
im guessing those do good numbers too
These people just look at numbers and spreadsheets all day. They have zero idea what their audiences actually want.
I think WB should do both, actually. Stay making games with your best franchises but license out that other IP you aren't using. They have soooo much
Surprised he didn't just cancel the game and delete the source code before it even released. Zaslav showed a lot of restraint here
Such a bummer because I still think the core of Suicide Squad game is really good. Haven't played much past S1 as it was super underwhelming but damn. Hopefully Rocksteady survives.
Yeah they just have to do more. Get a good Matrix game out there, license out the DC heroes too, maybe Blade Runner
all the love to the rocksteady devs considering what this potentially means for their livelihood with the state of the industry as it is
that studio is responsible for creating three amazing games back to back to back and pioneered one of my favorite melee combat systems, so it would be a goddamn tragedy to see it get shuttered because of one failed game
i just hope i'm wrong and they still get another chance
that studio is responsible for creating three amazing games back to back to back and pioneered one of my favorite melee combat systems, so it would be a goddamn tragedy to see it get shuttered because of one failed game
i just hope i'm wrong and they still get another chance
Consumers have been screaming from the rooftops for years that this looked meh.
And your telling me WB executives didn't anticipate this?
Tf they get paid for?
And your telling me WB executives didn't anticipate this?
Tf they get paid for?
There's the problem of who would want to buy the rights to just make a Flash or Green Arrow game? Like, they do have some brand recognition, but not that much. Spider-Man had some tight profit margins IIRC. How much faith would you have that licensing out an Enlongated Man to make an adventure game? I kid, but where have all the movie-based games gone--it used to be obligatory, now its super rare--there's Avatar, and... I guess they still crank out Alien games, but Alien has had a history of success over the years. Star Wars seems a safe bet.
But that's the thing... how do you strike a balance between licensing an IP that's valuable enough to draw customers in, but also not too expensive to be worth it.
Rocksteady is the perfect scapegoat here, despite the rumors (I thought) that their original IP was forcibly canned and they were asked to make it a Suicide Squad GAAS instead.
This isn't just Zaslav though. WB executives fucked up long ago, beyond mis-managing Rocksteady. Gotham Knights was a bafflingly misguided title, looking like a continuation of Arkham Knight yet somebody decided disconnect it. Then turned out an incredibly dull, amateurish game.
That left all the pressure on Rocksteady to continue the DC/Arkham franchise, with a title that was badly conceived from day one.
This isn't just Zaslav though. WB executives fucked up long ago, beyond mis-managing Rocksteady. Gotham Knights was a bafflingly misguided title, looking like a continuation of Arkham Knight yet somebody decided disconnect it. Then turned out an incredibly dull, amateurish game.
That left all the pressure on Rocksteady to continue the DC/Arkham franchise, with a title that was badly conceived from day one.
Rocksteady and Arkane Austin taking gambles on shit projects when they can do so much much better...and now they are gone.
I really wish we could have gotten a TMNT game styled like the Arkham games. There were movies and revivals for the Turtles that did good, why not that? Why not another Batman game?
WTF did people think to make Suicide Squad the 'wacky' DC property just because Marvel had success with GotG. I hate Suicide Squad and how much they are trying to keep making it happen.
I really wish we could have gotten a TMNT game styled like the Arkham games. There were movies and revivals for the Turtles that did good, why not that? Why not another Batman game?
WTF did people think to make Suicide Squad the 'wacky' DC property just because Marvel had success with GotG. I hate Suicide Squad and how much they are trying to keep making it happen.
Just a tremendously bad bet for all involved really. I wonder what Rocksteady's reaction was to Insomniac's Spideys and Crystal Dynamics Avenger's, in the time between their releases they had real world examples of what they were doing with the Arkham games, with something similar blowing up even beyond them, on a single platform and what they want to do instead giga bombing on all the platforms (it could run on).
Like we know WB are ultimately doubling down on service games so they probably just thought wow imagine how much we'll make now.
Like we know WB are ultimately doubling down on service games so they probably just thought wow imagine how much we'll make now.
The Zaslav stare of death.
Will he learn a single damned thing after the shitshow SS release though? Nope.
Will he learn a single damned thing after the shitshow SS release though? Nope.
Zaslav Has destroyed Warner bros in all divisions for years but sure blame 1 small dev for all the failures .
Typical CEO
Typical CEO
I wonder if they have considered the possibility that none of them will succeed.
I can see Rocksteady getting closed and them just licensing out DC IPs to publishers similar to what Disney is doing with Marvel.
Nobody gonna buy Rocksteady though, you're not getting any IP and acquisitions are never about the people.
Nobody gonna buy Rocksteady though, you're not getting any IP and acquisitions are never about the people.
It was honestly a massive waste of money and the fact that it made it through multiple years of management and didnt get shit canned is incredible.
Sunk cost fallacy. Should have been shit canned when that trailer dropped and they write the thing off. Game should never have released.
Sunk cost fallacy. Should have been shit canned when that trailer dropped and they write the thing off. Game should never have released.
I'm sure they are well aware most won't, but basically convince themselves 1 will and everyone else will fail chasing them. They obviously ignore the Fortnites and whathave you in the room that have already achieved that and aren't dying, leaving them as the ones who are chasing.
Doesn't even have to be another Batman, I am sure there are other DC characters that would work.
Why should CEOs care? If their plans don't make money for the company they just lay off people to make some short time profit and leave the company with a multimillion dollar compensation. If per accident their plans result in profit they get a multimillion dollar bonus and lay off people for fun.