Rocksteady Studios, creators of the Batman Arkham franchise, have been eerily quiet about their next game. It has been over 3 years since Arkham Knight released, and not even a peep. Rumors have come out the woodwork saying what their next game might be, and they haven't debunked any(thankfully we have insiders for that). But, it got me to thinking..... what exactly could their next game be? With Game Awards approaching fast and many thinking Rocksteady will finally make an appearance, I thought it would be fun to take a look.
Let's go through what we know about the game:
What do you guys think it might be? Flash? Wonder Woman? Or maybe one of the insiders got it wrong and it really is something that has already been "debunked?"
EDIT: Seems a lot of people within the thread think that some of the debunks aren't actually debunks, or could potentially be wrong. Only two I would put back up for contention would be Superman and Justice League, seeing as the others have been debunked by Rocksteady themselves.
Also, just because these job postings point towards a multiplayer-esque game, doesn't mean it relies on it. It could be passive multiplayer, or just have a dedicated game mode.
Lastly, next-gen can and probably should be scratched off that list too. Rocksteady has steadily been using that in job postings since 2016.
UPDATE: The debunks were true.
After that entire Superman fiasco, these three are now officially debunked by Jason Schreier:
For those who still don't believe the debunks, the man himself jschreier was on Kotaku SplitScreen and told that all the rumors of Rocksteady's next game is bs, they are NOT working on: Superman, Batman, Justice League, or TMNT. He says Rocksteady's next game is a "group of superheroes, GaaS type of thing". Take that and speculate as you will.
UPDATE #3:
An email from an employee at WB recently leaked:
In short, it alludes to Rocksteady's next game being a GaaS, multiplayer loot shooter. Things we already knew. Some interesting tidbits in here might point to what the game actually is, though.
It mentions multiple cities/areas (Gotham is the start, Star City is first installment in waves of DLC) and raids that will be accompanied within each city. (Ra's al Ghul is a pre-order bonus). Each city will have hub areas and a hero assigned to them (Green Arrow is in Star City). There will be online multiplayer, combat, and loot alongside customizable options (pre-order bonuses can get you iconic superhero costumes).
All of this information compiled within the document can pretty much guarantee that Rocksteady's next game is some sort of "create your own DC superhero and fight alongside your friends" kind of game where the regular DC heroes are like mentors and send you out on missions a la DC Universe Online. Each city will have a hero in a hub area that will then send you out on missions, and the game will constantly be updated with new cities and new heroes and gear.
If these leaks are true, then it really does sound like a cool game. My only hope is that it will play and feel somewhat like Arkham. I hope Rocksteady gives us a variety of powers/weapons to choose from and really flesh out the world of the DC Game Universe.
As for WB Montreal, they're probably working on keeping the mainline DC games going. They've teased a Batman: Court of Owls game for the past few months, and have another DC game in the pipeline. These will most likely be released every couple years as Rocksteady updates this massive DC game.
Let's go through what we know about the game:
- It is a DC title - Nirolak has already pointed out that Rocksteady has gone on record saying their next title is a joint decision between them, WB and DC.
- It is NOT Batman - They are on record saying that Arkham Knight is the end to their trilogy, and their time with Batman.
- Features multiplayer heavily - Job postings pointed to them hiring multiplayer testers, network coders, and metagame designers.
- It is GaaS - Rocksteady hired a product manager specializing in GaaS titles, and WB has said that it is the future of their games
- It involves some sort of weapon drops/loot crates - They hired senior weapons artists
- It's a next-gen game - Job postings have pointed towards a "AAA game on next-gen consoles, shooting for a 90+ metacritic rating."
- Superman - Vern debunked this in late 2017
- Justice League - debunked by Jason Schreier earlier this year
- Batman - debunked by Rocksteady in a GI interview and by Jason earlier this year
- TMNT - debunked by Rocksteady in a GI interview
- Suicide Squad - WB Montreal was making a SS game at around the same time this one started, so it can't be that.
What do you guys think it might be? Flash? Wonder Woman? Or maybe one of the insiders got it wrong and it really is something that has already been "debunked?"
EDIT: Seems a lot of people within the thread think that some of the debunks aren't actually debunks, or could potentially be wrong. Only two I would put back up for contention would be Superman and Justice League, seeing as the others have been debunked by Rocksteady themselves.
Also, just because these job postings point towards a multiplayer-esque game, doesn't mean it relies on it. It could be passive multiplayer, or just have a dedicated game mode.
Lastly, next-gen can and probably should be scratched off that list too. Rocksteady has steadily been using that in job postings since 2016.
UPDATE: The debunks were true.
After that entire Superman fiasco, these three are now officially debunked by Jason Schreier:
- Superman - debunked today numerous times and also by Vern. Jason also tweeted it.
- Batman - Jason was on Kinda Funny Games Daily and said Rocksteady is NOT working on Batman (43:56)
- Justice League - Jason debunked it in a thread, and also today in a twitter reply
For those who still don't believe the debunks, the man himself jschreier was on Kotaku SplitScreen and told that all the rumors of Rocksteady's next game is bs, they are NOT working on: Superman, Batman, Justice League, or TMNT. He says Rocksteady's next game is a "group of superheroes, GaaS type of thing". Take that and speculate as you will.
UPDATE #3:
An email from an employee at WB recently leaked:
In short, it alludes to Rocksteady's next game being a GaaS, multiplayer loot shooter. Things we already knew. Some interesting tidbits in here might point to what the game actually is, though.
It mentions multiple cities/areas (Gotham is the start, Star City is first installment in waves of DLC) and raids that will be accompanied within each city. (Ra's al Ghul is a pre-order bonus). Each city will have hub areas and a hero assigned to them (Green Arrow is in Star City). There will be online multiplayer, combat, and loot alongside customizable options (pre-order bonuses can get you iconic superhero costumes).
All of this information compiled within the document can pretty much guarantee that Rocksteady's next game is some sort of "create your own DC superhero and fight alongside your friends" kind of game where the regular DC heroes are like mentors and send you out on missions a la DC Universe Online. Each city will have a hero in a hub area that will then send you out on missions, and the game will constantly be updated with new cities and new heroes and gear.
If these leaks are true, then it really does sound like a cool game. My only hope is that it will play and feel somewhat like Arkham. I hope Rocksteady gives us a variety of powers/weapons to choose from and really flesh out the world of the DC Game Universe.
As for WB Montreal, they're probably working on keeping the mainline DC games going. They've teased a Batman: Court of Owls game for the past few months, and have another DC game in the pipeline. These will most likely be released every couple years as Rocksteady updates this massive DC game.
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