Warner Bros' attempt to spin a live-service hit out of the Arkham series withSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leaguewas an unmitigated disaster.
After struggling to win players over,with the peak player count plummeting below 250 in its first year alone, support was axed far earlier than planned,leaving several characters on the cutting room floor. So, in its final months, Rocksteady was forced to rush out the ending, revealing through a 2D motion comic thateveryone who died was just a clone— as though the game never happened.
However, Warner Bros. clearly hasn’t learned from its recent failures (MultiVersusandMortal Kombat 1included), astech4gamersjust spotted a job listing which reveals that another live-service DC game is in the works.
Warner Bros. Is Still Going All-In On Live-Service Games
Arkham Origins and Gotham Knights developer WB Games Montréal is hiring for an executive producerto work on “one of the iconic IPs from the vast DC Comics catalog”, where they will oversee “post-launch content and live service strategy, ensuring ongoing player engagement”. To this end, it wants someone with a “Deep understanding of the full game development lifecycle, including live services.”
The job listing doesn’t offer any details on what kind of game this is or what IP it’s based on. But given the underwhelming performance of Suicide Squad andGotham Knights(andMarvel’s Avengerson the other side of the comic pond), it’s unlikely to be another multiplayer spin on Arkham, at least.
The popular theory right now is that it will bea DC version of Marvel Rivals, and while some argue that it’s the “smartest thing they could make”, others are less optimistic.
As many point out, it wouldn’t just be competing with NetEase’s hit new hero shooter, butOverwatch 2, entering an already oversaturated market. However, since the job listing claims that the game is based on “oneof the iconic IPs”, a ‘DC Rivals’ doesn’t seem likely, either.
With so little to go on, we can only speculate right now, but the mere idea of another live-service DC offering hardly instils confidence, and is already proving incredibly controversial.
