After months and months of hearsay, rumors, and otherwise complete silence from Warner Bros., we're on track to finally see the next major Batman game rumored to be announced this August during the DC FanDome event.
So far, we know almost nothing about the title, or rather nothing official. There have been rumors and theories about it featuring the Court of Owls as the primary antagonists and multiple playable characters aside from the Dark Knight himself. We also may know the new Batman game's title if a new website domain is to be believed.
However, a new rumor has come out that not only corroborates the aforementioned features, but also may confirm a new one. The claim comes from KC Walsh, editor-in-chief of Geek WorldWide, who states in a Twitter post details he has heard from someone who has been working on the new Batman game since the beginning.
According to Walsh, the game will have a Nemesis system, much like what the Shadow of Mordor games had, which will involve multiple factions, including the Gotham City Police Department.
As always, it's important to take this claim with a grain of salt, but a Nemesis system would make sense for a Batman game, given that he fights multiple criminal organizations and gangs.
For those that may need an explanation, the Nemesis system consisted of unique enemies, each with their own personalities and histories, that could become personally involved with the player. If one of these enemies killed the player, their reputation would improve and they would become stronger. It's a feature we even suggested be incorporated into the new game.
If Walsh's statement is true, then the police being a faction as well could be interesting. Could it be referring solely to corrupt cops within the department or is the whole police force fighting against Batman this time around, meaning they won't be allies this time around.
Or maybe they're a friendly faction and, as Batman takes down criminal bases and such, it improves the police's control of the city and provides benefits to the player? Again, we can only speculate, but with Shadow of Mordor's Nemesis system being mostly praised by critics and fans, it wouldn't be surprising to see it be brought back.
Walsh adds that the new title will have connections to other games, but he didn't extrapolate more than that. Whether this means the game will simply feature Easter eggs and references to other titles or be directly connected to the other Arkham games via the story is another question entirely. Given how Arkham Knight ended, with it acting as the finale to the Arkham series, it'd certainly be difficult to continue that narrative.
In related news, Warner Bros.' other heavily rumoured project, the open-world Harry Potter RPG, is said to be announced sometime after the Batman announcement and is planned to release in late 2021.
The new Batman game is set to be announced on August 22nd.