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[arkhamguy123]

Am I being overly pessimistic if I genuinely think rocksteady might get closed for this?

Also jesus fucking CHRIST just make another SP Batman game. I KNOW these people have marketing teams who sweep social media and other channels and focus groups and report back to the higher ups. They have to know that’s what the fans want, that’s what the people want. There is a healthy demand for a new Arkham. I ain’t sayin it’ll be a 20M+ seller like Hogwarts but it would make a profit and not lose 200M like this game

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Looks like a guy named Julio cosplaying WW at Halloween.

 

[diffusionx]

Am I being overly pessimistic if I genuinely think rocksteady might get closed for this?

Also jesus fucking CHRIST just make another SP Batman game. I KNOW these people have marketing teams who sweep social media and other channels and focus groups and report back to the higher ups. They have to know that’s what the fans want, that’s what the people want. There is a healthy demand for a new Arkham. I ain’t sayin it’ll be a 20M+ seller like Hogwarts but it would make a profit and not lose 200M like this game

No, everyone thinks they will be shut down.

As for a singleplayer Batman game, remember that this is not the studio that made Arkham City anymore. It's the studio that made Suicide Squad.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

God damn, this industry needs a crash so badly. What a disgrace.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Always happy to see a DEI infested, live-service mess crash and burn.

 

[Orutisu Furio]

Soulless corporations producing games that have no soul.

This was obvious to anyone once we had a look at the game.

 

[Plague Doctor]

Still wild to me how much Arkham Knight (which I wasn't thrilled with at the time of its release - mainly cause of the bullshit vehicle stuff) looks and plays so much better than this cash grab, mindless piece of GAAS shit. Fucking AK is really a GOTY contender caliber compared to SS:KTJL by comparison.

All the talent at Rocksteady is long gone and WB is a clown show at managing this property.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

Always happy to see a DEI infested, live-service mess crash and burn.

AAA games have turned into Disney at this point. Create some huge, insanely expensive, DEI-infested, design-by-committee entertainment turd that nobody wants and that has to sell a zillion copies to break even, witness total apathy even when you market the absolute shit out of it, act surprised when it flops and loses millions of dollars.

 

[bumpkin]

How do you think gamers feel, CEO man?

We wanted another Batman Arkham game and instead we got an ensemble GAAS game with protags most people largely don’t give a shit about. It was beneath a studio as talented as Rocksteady.

And if that wasn’t bad enough, those losers snuff heroes we do care about; including an unceremoniously garbage demise for Batman at the hands of the least dangerous of the bunch.

 

[Spukc]

Fuck me that is sexy

I can imagine this face on her fucking my bussy

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Am I being overly pessimistic if I genuinely think rocksteady might get closed for this?

Also jesus fucking CHRIST just make another SP Batman game. I KNOW these people have marketing teams who sweep social media and other channels and focus groups and report back to the higher ups. They have to know that’s what the fans want, that’s what the people want. There is a healthy demand for a new Arkham. I ain’t sayin it’ll be a 20M+ seller like Hogwarts but it would make a profit and not lose 200M like this game

There's a very good chance they get closed over this.

They're in an expensive place to run a business. They've basically been working on this game for 9 years. There's no coming back from that.
However, I would like to see Rocksteady not closed down and rather just see WB divest from them.

Unlikely, since they're cutting payroll and downsizing, but I'd love to see Sony rescue this studio and have them take over the development of either Spider-Man or the upcoming X-Men game and free up Insomniac to work on other things or at least collaborate together. I don't think Rocksteady leaves much to be desired when it comes to singleplayer games. Arkham Knight was really well received.

Sony is contractually obligated to make these games so I think it would be worthwhile. Worst case scenario, you can close them down. It's a 250 person studio, so despite being in London, they would at least be more productive than London Studio.

 

[KormaChameleon]

 

[Barakov]

 

[Braag]

Finally some good news for a change.

 

[tkscz]

with “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League” not performing as well as massive hit “Hogwarts Legacy” in the comparable Q1 2023.

 

[MALpractice311]

No, everyone thinks they will be shut down.

As for a singleplayer Batman game, remember that this is not the studio that made Arkham City anymore. It's the studio that made Suicide Squad.

Exactly. I would bet my left nut there's fewer than 15 people still there who worked on the Arkham games. Shut it down. Let WB eat the loss and maybe they'll eventually get the fuck out of the games industry because they don't know what the fuck they're doing.

 

[Dr. Claus]

Zaslav is a disappointment, and needs to go.

Sadly, now most likely this means RIP Rocksteady.

The talent long left the company. No loss if it shuts down.

 

[proandrad]

Guess they forgot how capitalism work. You are suppose to make a product the CONSUMER wants to buy and not a product YOU want the consumer to buy. An actual new single player Batman Arkham game could have sold better than Spider-man 2 on PS5, Xbox, and PC.

 

[Randall365]

When you look at the release schedule, that could been the biggest single player game of the year, easily, if it was just a sequel to Arkham Knight. What a complete fuck up all round by Warner Bros. The GAAS nonsense and Sweet Baby Sink shit just killed it dead.

 

[Shut0wen]

Tbf a 12% dip probably isnt enough for wb to get the message, actually thought id tke atleast 30 since no one except batman fans were even bothered about the game

 

[adamsapple]

Zaslav is a disappointment, and needs to go.

Sadly, now most likely this means RIP Rocksteady.

Don't 'sadly' them, making it a live-service game was their idea.

WB Blames ‘Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League’ For Quarterly Mis​

• Players questioned the nature of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League from the start, wondering why Rocksteady did not make another single player superhero game in the vein of their Arkham series. In short, this was a game no one was asking for, and had to be sold on. They weren't.
• The "live service looter shooter" angle was reportedly not forced by management, but it was Rocksteady's leadership who made the decision to pursue the game instead of alternatives.

 

[Denorion]

One thing to notice, most of the old-school Rocksteady staff, including their founders, left and formed a new studio Hundred Star Games (they missed the opportunity of using "Bebop games")

Hundred Star

100 people * AAA Games * London

www.hundredstar.games

So it's not certain that the current staff could do something at the same level of the old arkham games

 

[Roni]

Who could've known? Surely not the competent executives at Warner Bros. Interactive who represent the best of the best in that particular hierarchy.

 

[asdasdasdbb]

Do people want another SP Arkham game? I feel like they ran out of ideas. Using the Batmobile was kind of it....

 

[Danjin44]

God damn, this industry needs a crash so badly. What a disgrace.

How is that going to fix anything? Will crash suddenly make corporation less greedy towards money? Is the AAA games going cost less?

 

[Pejo]

How is that going to fix anything? Will crash suddenly make corporation less greedy towards money? Is the AAA games going cost less?

I think making better staffing/development,/budgetary decisions and refocusing to a gameplay first focus could be accomplished with a crash.

Does it require a crash for them to do that? Not really, but it sure does force their hand a bit, and makes it more likely.

 

[Ristifer]

Do people want another SP Arkham game? I feel like they ran out of ideas. Using the Batmobile was kind of it....

I’d rather have the Batmobile throwing up all over a Batman game than four boners with guns in a live service.

 

[Danjin44]

I think making better staffing/development,/budgetary decisions and refocusing to a gameplay first focus could be accomplished with a crash.

Does it require a crash for them to do that? Not really, but it sure does force their hand a bit, and makes it more likely.

They still accomplish even now many devs doing that like FromSoftware, it just greedy corporation want GaaS because they make more money form them and this mind-set is not going to change even if “crash” happens.

This is no different than when people think nuking the world it will automatically will fix everything…..it not.

 

[Audiophile]

And they'll blame everything except for themselves.

 

[Guilty_AI]

How is that going to fix anything? Will crash suddenly make corporation less greedy towards money? Is the AAA games going cost less?

It would mean the current market leaders would lose mindshare and other games from smaller but far more talented studios would take their place, allowing them to grow and make games with larger scopes.

There are many great western-made games currently, they just don't get a lot of eyes on them with all the new Assassin's Creeds and Far Cry's taking up people's time.

 

[Saber]

This gonna be the year of "No shit Sherlock".

Honestly, they won't be missed. The old Rockystead is dead, nothing gonna ever save the Batman Arkhan series. Its probably for the best they remain in people memories instead of being associated with these excrements of gaming.

 

[Danjin44]

There are many great western-made games currently, they just don't get a lot of eyes on them with all the new Assassin's Creeds and Far Cry's taking up people's time.

For me personally I lost interest in them, maybe my taste has changed but I keep buying less and less western games, in fact this year bought none.

 

[DannyDanger]

I wonder how it feels to be a dev making a game they have to know is DOA

 

[Guilty_AI]

For me personally I lost interest in them, maybe my taste has changed but I keep buying less and less western games, in fact this year bought none.

In all likelyhood you simply don't know about the good ones, which goes back to what i said about visibility.

Some examples of games i'm pretty sure you'd at least agree that look pretty neat:

Spoiler

Polish:


Brazilian:


American:


German:

Games like this lose visibility because potential costumers keep getting bombarded about the new Star Wars games or the next Call of Duty.

 

[nemiroff]

That's what happens when you make a game for your consultants instead of for (what should've been) your target audience.

 

[Danjin44]

In all likelyhood you simply don't know about the good ones, which goes back to what i said about visibility.

Some examples of games i'm pretty sure you'd at least agree that look pretty neat:

Spoiler

Polish:


Brazilian:


American:


German:

Games like this lose visibility because potential costumers keep getting bombarded about the new Star Wars games or the next Call of Duty.

World of Horror look kind of interesting because kind of remind me Junji Ito's work but other ones I have no interest.

 

[Guilty_AI]

World of Horror look kind of interesting because kind of remind me Junji Ito's work but other ones I have no interest.

Yeah, but you agree they all look great at least. Certainly better than the slop we see from major western studios or Xbox. These are the games that get buried because of the Redfalls, Starfields and Suicide Squads.

If all these companies went down, those games will be there to fill the void and thrive in turn. That's why so many people seemingly cheer for a crash.

 

[Danjin44]

Yeah, but you agree they all look great at least. Certainly better than the slop we see from major western studios or Xbox. These are the games that get buried because of the Redfalls and Suicide Squads.

Well of course and I'm not saying "ALL" western games are bad in fact I'm interested in The Plucky Squire if we ever get release date for that game.

 

[Guilty_AI]

Well of course and I'm not saying "ALL" western games are bad in fact I'm interested in The Plucky Squire if we ever get release date for that game.

I also remember you being interested in System Shock Remake. Either way, the point is without large corps taking up all mindshare by leveraging heavy handed market campaigns and famous IPs, games like these would have much better chances to thrive.

You yourself would also hear more often about titles like World of Horror that may potentially interest you, since people would be discussing THOSE and not how Star Wars Outlaws is another souless corpo garbage.

 

[Danjin44]

I also remember you being interested in System Shock Remake. Either way, the point is without large corps taking up all mindshare by leveraging heavy handed market campaigns and famous IPs, games like these would have much better chances to thrive.

You yourself would also hear more often about games like World of Horror that may potentially interest you, since people would be discussing THOSE and not how Star Wars Outlaws is another souless corpo garbage.

The bigger problem is for me, This year I got HUGE amount of games I liked back to back (still coming)....I have no room for any other games.

I know lot of people (especially in GAF) crying over how "there is no games" but for there is almost too much quality coming out.

 

[Guilty_AI]

I know lot of people (especially in GAF) crying over how "there is no games" but for there is almost too much quality coming out.

Yes, including from the western side. That's what i'm saying. But people don't hear about them because they focus too much on the Starfields and Skull and Bones and think this is the western output.

Just today Animal Well released and people are loving it. It gets more attention because videogamedunkey backed the game, but imagine how many more quality games like that people don't even hear about because all they see on the internet is the new Destiny 2 expansion.

Just so you know, i'm not saying you have to play them. I'm saying a crash would help bring visibility to such titles. Actual quality titles, which in turn would fund more interesting games for the future.

 

[Danjin44]

Just so you know, i'm not saying you have to play them. I'm saying a crash would help bring visibility to such titles. Actual quality titles, which in turn would fund more interesting games for the future.

Games like Destiney 2 and Star wars Outlaw are popular because those games appeal to your average joe who are barely in to video games...

Do you think a "crash" suddenly going to make people who only play Sports games, COD and Fortnite suddenly go play niche games?

 

[Guilty_AI]

Games like Destiney 2 and Star wars Outlaw are popular because those games appeal to your average joe who are barely in to video games...

They appeal to the average joe because they're easily recognizeable and highly marketed. The average joe isn't disinterested in Everspace 2 because it doesn't appeal to them, they're disinterested in it because they don't even know it exists, and since barely anyone talks about it they ignore it even if they hear the name or see it in passing.

Do you think a "crash" suddenly going to make people who only play Sports games, COD and Fortnite suddenly go play niche games?

Not all, but some will. Understand that people keep playing these games because it became their comfort zone, because they don't know anything else or the worst of it, a vice.

Rip them out of the equation and they'll look for other things. Its not unusual in such cases for them to find passion in things they ignored before, because they were too busy raging at Blizzard for bullshiting them yet still playing their crap regardless.

 

[Skifi28]

Took him a while, but he finally figured it out. If only all the signs were there from the start.

 

[Fake]

How is that going to fix anything? Will crash suddenly make corporation less greedy towards money? Is the AAA games going cost less?

Why not make sure they are, IDK, doing something those 9 years of dev?

I mean, is someone even check how things are doing in the job with all this overly liberal mentality?

They must spend all day calling pizza and watching netflix. There is no way a 9 fucking years game took this time to launch with absolutly poor content. Someone really are not fiscalizating how people spend they time at work. There is no other explanation.

Are they even work at this point? I mean, look at Redfall. No way in hell someone in real life really go to the company dev studio, check the progress of that game and tell to his boss 'Yes boss, our team is really working hard.'
We need someone to grab the ear of these adults who behave like children and spend all day complaining on Twitter at work.

 

[Danjin44]

They appeal to the average joe because they're easily recognizeable and highly marketed. The average joe isn't disinterested in Everspace 2 because it doesn't appeal to them, they're disinterested in it because they don't even know it exists, and since barely anyone talks about it they ignore it even if they hear the name or see it in passing.


Not all, but some will. Understand that people keep playing these games because it became their comfort zone, because they don't know anything else or the worst of it, a vice.

Rip them out of the equation and they'll look for other things. Its not unusual in such cases for them to find passion in things they ignored before, because they were too busy raging at Blizzard for bullshiting them yet still playing their crap regardless.

That’s my point, even with “crash” those people still going to play them and companies going keep making them because it makes the most money and we are back to square one.

 

[Guilty_AI]

That’s my point, even with “crash” those people still going to play them and companies going keep making them because it makes the most money and we are back to square one.

Those are games that built their playerbase over many many years so it's not that simple. Its not like some other big player could just come around and sweep everyone left behind.

Besides, the cause of this crash we keep speculating is related to these bad practices to some degree in the first place as it's slowly pushing players away. Then there's also the horrible mismanagement that plague these companies, making them having a hard time meeting their quotas even with all the sales and nickel diming, or eating themselves out for short term gains.

 

[Danjin44]

Those are games that built their playerbase over many many years so it's not that simple. Its not like some other big player could just come around and sweep everyone left behind.

Besides, the cause of this crash we keep speculating is related to these bad practices to some degree in the first place as it's slowly pushing players away. Then there's also the horrible mismanagement that plague these companies, making them having a hard time meeting their quotas even with all the sales and nickel diming, or eating themselves out for short term gains.

First I dont think I dont think we going to see "crash" and even we do is not gonna magically fix industry's problem.

Also there is also good solution without the "crash" exist and GAF is not gonna like it. Do what Godzilla Minus One did, we dont need stupid amount of money to make high quality games like having highest tech graphics and hire celebrity for games.

Armored Core VI is one favourite games this gen, it was SUPER FUN it didn't need crazy budget to make it......in fact most Japanese developers stopped chasing graphic race and they are better for it.

 

[LordBlodgett]

 

[Neolombax]

You would think that they would have listened to what players said when they first revealed the game. When they decided to delay the game, they seemed to have doubled down on making the game as generic as possible and insisted it would still be live service. The amount of meaningful content in the game does not reflect at all those development years. Not sure if its the developer at fault or the publisher, maybe its both. But its sad to see so much potential wasted.