Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has been divisive, but unless Rocksteady’s next game was another single-player Batman game that was probably always going to be the case. Rocksteady effectively went from developing the most influential and popular superhero trilogy in games to announcing that it was developing a co-op action-shooter, and even though Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League still takes place in the Arkham universe it is understandably a polar opposite genre for fans to wrap their heads around.
Not all fans who adored the Arkham franchise also love multiplayer shooters, and therefore the transition from Batman: Arkham Knight to Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will inevitably be alarming for some. Rocksteady never explicitly stated one way or another if Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League would be a live-service game, but recent evidence of a live-service model has arrived in the form of a menu screen leak. This menu screen features a battle pass tab and multiple different in-game currencies, which could potentially be a bad sign for the game.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Can’t Be Another Live-Service Flop
There is a stigma surrounding live-service multiplayer games now that has tainted each subsequent release, but especially each superhero game that attempts to integrate a co-op or multiplayer element. The primary poster child for live-service superhero games being poorly received is Marvel’s Avengers, which made a lot of choices fans were unhappy with, as it emphasized microtransactions instead of genuine content. The fear moving forward is that live-service games run their course early and the remainder of their shelf-life consists of vapid microtransactions. Players can indulge in these microtransactions all they want, but skins should not be the only content a game uses to invite players back.
Marvel’s Avengers did gradually launch new characters, but innumerable bugs plagued its monotonous gameplay, and many of its characters were clones of someone else who was already available on the roster. It is unknown what Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s live-service and battle pass elements will consist of, but if it is anything like the formula for Marvel’s Avengers then Rocksteady may have a difficult road ahead of it.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Needs to Break the Live-Service Mold
If Rocksteady cannot justify a live-service decision with worthwhile features and fulfilling content, then that may eventually sink Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and wholly discourage developers from attempting another live-service superhero game for the foreseeable future. However, live-service and battle pass elements don't have to mean that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will be unfavorable.
Rocksteady has demonstrated how phenomenal it is as a studio; its work on the Arkham trilogy should suggest that its next game will be high quality. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s gameplay looks fantastic, with open-world movement reminiscent of Sunset Overdrive, and cutscenes whose quality looks like it is taking full advantage of current-gen fidelity.
In fact, it will be intriguing to see Rocksteady’s take on a live-service game, considering that could mean future challenge mode updates similar to the Arkham games. It is possible that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League could be branded as a live-service game but turn that model on its head to create a unique experience for players. It will simply be a matter of knowing what content is planned to release post-launch and how necessary it is for the game to have been live-service in the first place.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League launches on May 26, 2023 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.