Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League – What Went Wrong?

After hitting Finite Crisis Rank 30 or so in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, I called it quits. There were higher Mastery Tiers to conquer and higher Invasion Levels with the prospect of shinier loot and crafting recipes. Of course, Rank 60 also promised Tier 3 Bane Infamy Sets – the spoils of constantly grinding the same three Incursion Missions again and again. I had no desire to level up my other characters. No interest in the Paragon-like Squad Levels. Only the urge to move on, lest the “sunk cost” (or time, in this case) fallacy set in.

What happened?

How did Rocksteady churn this out? How did a developer known for introducing Arkham-style combat to the world and proving not once but three times that a triple-A superhero game could be great get to this point? A somewhat promising story that devolves into an utter mess of multiverses, horrendous boss fights and deaths that fall flat; a gameplay system that, despite some interesting mechanics, was a far cry from what the studio was capable of; repetitive missions that slotted within the “live service” gameplay model – its list of issues goes on and on.

Where did it all truly begin? Amid all the rumors and reports, it’s worth noting that a Suicide Squad game was announced as far back as 2010 by DC Entertainment chief creative officer Geoff. Speaking at a panel, he confirmed several things – a Flash movie in the works and characters appearing in the Green Lantern film (which nearly killed lead actor Ryan Reynolds’ career). The most surprising announcement was that of a “hardcore violent” game based on Suicide Squad that could launch alongside the movie.

Johns confirmed in 2012 to Kotaku that it entered development. “I’m really super excited about it. Because of the concept, you have a game where any lead characters can conceivably die, and it’s not a stunt. Some really cool story could come out of that,” he said.

Though a developer wasn’t announced, Rocksteady was fresh off the success of Batman: Arkham City. Its style of stealth gameplay could fit very well with a Suicide Squad game. The concept of spending extensive time with playable characters that could potentially die at any time also fits the motif of the comic book squad. 2013 rolled around, and many who played Batman: Arkham Origins discovered a post-credits scene of Amanda Waller approaching Deathstroke. The Suicide Squad recruitment was on.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be. In 2016, developer WB Games Montreal, reportedly in charge of the title, saw several high-level departures. As Jason Schreier reported for Kotaku, the project was allegedly cancelled after two years of development. It was rumored to be a co-op title that ultimately “failed to impress” Warner Bros. management.

In that same year, DC Entertainment released the Suicide Squad film. As part of its attempts to cash in on the superhero film craze and have a lucrative cinematic universe like Marvel with Batman and The Flash having cameos. Despite extensive box office success, critics panned it, with the creative process rife with reshoots and script changes later revealed. Perhaps the well was poisoned from that point, as the Justice League film flopped critically and commercially when it arrived in 2017.

Either way, the Suicide Squad were well and truly dead in the DCU, with the film considered an embarrassment. WB Games Montreal reportedly moved on to a rumored Damian Wayne title (which also reportedly faced cancellation) and then to Gotham Knights. Rocksteady released Batman: Arkham Knight in 2015, concluding the trilogy and presumably working on something new.

However, despite rumors that a Superman title was in development, Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier reported recently that this ultimately wasn’t the case. Instead, Rocksteady began working on a Suicide Squad title in 2017.

The project reportedly had “several false starts” and multiple delays – look no further than the fact it was announced in August 2020 and slated for May 2023 before facing a massive delay to February 2024. Tackling an “unfamiliar genre” took about seven years for the studio.

Why did DC Entertainment revisit the property after the disastrous first film? As it turns out, the well wasn’t poisoned – DC planned to film a sequel in 2017. Numerous departures later, James Gunn of Guardians of the Galaxy fame, was to write the film in 2018 and subsequently directed it as well. The Suicide Squad was released in 2021, roughly a year after the video game’s reveal. Granted, it was a box office flop but had better reviews than the first. Gunn would become co-chairman and co-CEO of DC Studios in 2022.

Perhaps the plan was always to release the video game alongside the film or at least benefit from the buzz. The attempt to make a live-service shooter could be viewed as trying to cash in on the success of titles like Destiny and Tom Clancy’s The Division. Some will point to the failure of titles like Marvel’s Avengers, but Suicide Squad was announced in the same year they were released (while development began a good two years before Anthem’s launch). There may have been a pervading thought the demand was there for another live-service looter shooter – it just had to deliver a polished experience.

Gotham Knights would launch in 2022 and face extensive scrutiny, some speculating it to be a live service title, with those elements removed before launch following backlash to the trend. All eyes were on Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which had yet to provide an extensive look at its gameplay – only confirmation of co-op play (though single-player was still very much possible), a connection to the Arkham-verse and Kevin Conroy reprising his role as Batman.

When its gameplay finally debuted in February 2023, just three months from launch, the warning signs were all there. A Battle Pass, Social tab, loot, in-game store – and the later reveal that it was always online. Of course, the gameplay – which consisted of four unique DC characters, each with their distinct methods of violence, condensed down to interchangeable shooters, didn’t help either. Cue the delay, reportedly to provide an offline mode (which is coming sometime this year), and the rest is history.

Despite Rocksteady not going the Marvel’s Avengers route and making every character unique, the gunplay isn’t terrible, and there is some decent if sporadic loot. Despite the ultimately disappointing story and some irritating dialogue, its performances and cutscenes are good. Even the visuals are impressive, given the size and scale.

However, even with these positives, the negatives are difficult to deny. Even those who like it will find that there isn’t much to do in the endgame. The same three Incursion missions, the same two Killing Time Horde-mode missions and the same Mayhem mission (a repeat of one of the worst boss fights ever made) – over and over and over again.

With WB Games committing even harder to live service going forward, it remains to be seen if it can commit to the aftermath. Even if it allows Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League to receive new content, playable characters and storylines, there’s no changing the base game without removing major components wholesale and throwing it into a content vault, Destiny 2-style. The backlash can always die down, but erasing the memories of terrible moments – you know which ones – is impossible.

With layoffs on the rise and triple-A game budgets regularly surpassing tens of millions of dollars, live service is a dragon many publishers will continue chasing in pursuit of long-term repeated revenue. This is just another example of the same. Hopefully, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League won’t be another painful reminder of what happens when it all comes crashing down.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.