Summary
Rocksteady, the developer behind theBatman: Arkhamseries andSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, has just been hit with another round of layoffs. 2024 was a difficult time for Rocksteady, as the studio’s most recent title, theBatman: Arkhamspin-offSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, was met with a mixed reception at release and only grew more divisive as the game’s post-launch DLC rolled on. Eventually, Rocksteady announced that it was no longer adding new content toSuicide Squadafter one last update in January to wrap the game’s storyline up.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leaguewas a costly title for both Rocksteady and parent company WB Games, with Warner Bros. reporting that the game failed to live up to sales expectations back in February. Several months later,Rocksteady was hit with a large number of layoffsto its QA department, in part due toSuicide Squad’s poor performance. Roughly half the department was let go, shrinking it from 33 employees to 15.
Sadly, this was just the beginning of Rocksteady’s layoff troubles, asEurogamerrecently reported that the studio suffered another round of staff cuts just as 2024 came to a close. More QA employees were impacted, as well as members ofRocksteady’s programming and artist teams. Half a dozen impacted workers spoke to Eurogamer about how they were recently let go, choosing to remain anonymous to protect their future careers. Warner Bros. has yet to comment on these layoffs, just as it was silent about September’s round of cuts.
Rocksteady isn’t the only studio seemingly impacted bySuicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s underperformance. WB Games Montreal, the developer behind 2013’sBatman: Arkham Originsand 2022’sGotham Knights,also reported layoffs in December, with most of them supposedly being members of the quality assurance team who supported Rocksteady in the development ofSuicide Squad’s post-launch DLC.
The last of this DLC was launched on December 10 and added formerBatman: Arkham Originsboss Deathstroke as the fourth and final additional playable character inSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s roster of anti-heroes. Later this month, Rocksteady will releaseone last update forSuicide Squad, and it isn’t clear what the studio will do after that.Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leagueseems to be ending as a dark mark on Rocksteady’s otherwise polished resume of beloved DC-based video games, as evidenced by the major layoffs left in the ill-fated live service title’s wake.
Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League
WHERE TO PLAY
Play as the Suicide Squad to take down the World’s Greatest DC Super Heroes, The Justice League. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, is a genre-defying, action-adventure third-person shooter from Rocksteady Studios, creators of the critically acclaimed Batman: Arkham series.
