Money has worked in several different gaming companies in the past, with his most recent stint having been with Ubisoft Singapore where he worked on a host of titles, including Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, its The Siege of Paris DLC, and Assassin’s Creed Origins. In the past, Money has also worked on a host of different titles, including classics like the PS2 port of Deus Ex, as well as the PC and Xbox versions of Deus Ex: Invisible War.

A job listing spotted back in March indicated that Rocksteady’s next Batman game will be a cross-generation release, coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S as well as whatever the next-gen consoles might end up being. This would also indicate that the title is still three to four years away, since that would fall in the alleged time frame of new consoles.

Rocksteady’s work on this new title comes after the studio released Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, considered by publisher WB Games as a commercial failure. Since then, however, DC Studios co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran had noted that they had spoken with Rocksteady, along with Mortal Kombat and Injustice developer NetherRealm Studios about their respective next projects.

“We work incredibly closely with JB Perrette, who runs that division,” said Safran back in February. “It’s really the first time it’s ever been this way at Warner Bros. James and I sit with the guys that run the studios under JB, whether it’s NetherRealm or Rocksteady. We sit with them and we talk about characters and stories that we’re interested in and that they’re interested in.”

Gunn spoke about having conversations with the studios about where they currently are with their projects, and what their next projects might be. It is worth noting that these conversations would likely involve games that are still early in their development processes.

“We see designs for the projects in their very earliest stages,” said Gunn. “We talk about those, we talk about what the story might be, and we’ll say ‘Well, you may want to go this way because we’re planning on maybe doing something with this character.’”

The failure of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League had reportedly led to a host of lay-offs at Rocksteady. There were also reports at the time that the studio was looking to go back to working on single-player games rather than live-service multiplayer titles, since the studio is most well-known for its work on the Batman: Arkham games.

Caught by IGN, during the company’s recent quarterly earnings call, Warner Bros. Discover CEO David Zaslav acknowledged the aforementioned stumbles, before stating that the company intends to reduce its output going forward, while also zeroing in on four “really powerful” franchises with significant fanbases in Hogwarts Legacy, Mortal Kombat, Game of Thrones, and DC- Batman in particular, as per Zaslav.

“We’re through some of the worst — and it hasn’t been pretty on the gaming business — but we have four games that are really powerful and have a real constituency that love them, and we’re going to focus on those four primarily,” he said. “We’re going to go away from trying to launch 10, 12, 15, 20 different games. I think we have a real chance now with focus to have the gaming business be steadier.

“We have four strong and profitable game franchises with loyal, global fans: Hogwarts Legacy, Mortal Kombat, Game of Thrones, and DC, in particular Batman. We are focusing our development efforts on those core franchises, with proven studios to improve our success ratio.”

With Batman: Arkham developer Rocksteady Studios having been behind Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Zaslav singling out Batman and mentioning “proven studios” is certainly interesting, especially amidst reports that Rocksteady is looking to revert to single-player games, and that the studio has started working on a new Batman game.

Meanwhile, it was recently officially confirmed that a sequel to Hogwarts Legacy is in development, while previous reports have claimed that a Hogwarts Legacy Definitive Edition is also in the works, and due out sometime in 2025 with 10-15 hours of new content.

That’s as per XboxEra co-founder and prominent leaker Nick Baker, who recently claimed on Twitter that the studio behind the Batman: Arkham series had started developing another Batman game. Whether it’s going to be another entry in the Arkham series or something entirely new is unknown, but whatever it is, Baker claims PlayStation is attempting to secure an exclusivity deal for the game.

Earlier this year, it was claimed by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier that following Suicide Squad’s critical and commercial failure, Rocksteady was looking to return to its roots with a new single-player game. Beyond that, the studio is also said to be providing development support on an unannounced director’s cut of Avalanche Software’s Hogwarts Legacy. Read more on that through here.

But wait, hang on, there is another Arkham game on the horizon. Arkham Shadow, coming from developer Camouflaj is releasing Autumn 2024 and from what’s been shared so far it looks like a suitable return to Gotham City’s crime-ridden alleys and gritty underbelly. It’ll feature the same hard-hitting combat established in Rocksteady’s trilogy, the return of iconic characters Harvey Dent and Jim Gordon plus notorious arch-nemeses Scarecrow and Harley Quinn, plus underutilised supervillain Ratcatcher. In lieu of dearly departed Kevin Conroy, the voice comes courtesy of superb Arkham Origins actor Roger Craig Smith. The ingredients are prepped to serve up a satisfying slice of Arkham goodness, but there is a caveat. Arkham Shadow is a VR exclusive.

Now, there’s nothing especially wrong with VR games. For Arkham Shadow, Camouflaj are determined to respect the legacy carved out by Rocksteady with a faithful representation of Batman’s unique macabre atmosphere, but – let’s be real – VR games are still a niche enterprise. Worse still, Arkham Shadow is a Meta Quest 3 exclusive, so not set to be available on other VR hardware. Of course, Oculus Studios will be banking on Arkham Shadow being a headset seller, but that means there’s huge pressure on this title; despite Meta Quest’s passionate fanbase clamouring for larger VR titles, are those outside the virtual reality sphere going to be persuaded to finally dip their toe in if they haven’t already?

Damning is Arkham Shadows’ reaction from Arkham fanatics and reporting press alike. The worst comment out there asks rhetorically ‘do WB Games even care about their fanbase?’ As good as Arkham Shadow seems, its player base is undeniably narrow. If this were a console game, fans would be in rapture. But they’re not. Nothing will satiate desires for another Batman game than another console-slash-PC Batman game. Not a VR exclusive, not an accompanying comic, or movie tie-in. A new game, and a new game only.

If the appetite across comments sections, forums, and threads is to be taken as seriously, then why isn’t another single player Arkham game incoming? After all, WB Games have spoken repeatedly on DC’s potential as a billion-dollar gaming brand. Even if there was an Arkham sequel in the works (Arkham Shadow, we haven’t mentioned yet, is a prequel set shortly after the events of Arkham Origin) then it’s unlikely to be single player. The reason for this, unfortunately, lies in WB Games’ desire to double down on live service, free-to-play, and mobile.

The rationale behind this is befuddling on two counts. One: Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was a diabolical flob, costing WB Games millions in irrecuperable losses with colossal damage to their brand and a wavering of Rocksteady’s reputation (though Rocksteady choose to work on a live service FPS themselves). Two: last year’s wizarding single player RPG Hogwarts Legacy – of which Harry Potter sits amongst Warner Bros.’ most lucrative properties – was a financial success. Indeed, a Director’s Cut is reportedly in the works with none other than Rocksteady Studios working alongside Avalanche Software to bring the title to fruition. At present there’s no indication live service elements will be shoehorned into this re-release, but Hogwarts Legacy 2 will undoubtedly – if we’re being cynical – feature some sort of free-to-play, microtransaction laden, live service element.  

As reported by Bloomberg in June, Rocksteady’s leadership are pitching a new single player game to WB but we’re not privy to what this game is. It could be a return to Arkham, but we’re really not sure. Elsewhere, Rocksteady co-founders Sefton Hill and Jamie Walker quietly opened a new studio at the start of 2024. This studio, Hundred Star Games, poached numerous developers from Rocksteady and is reportedly working on a AAA single player action-adventure game, financed via partnership from Microsoft. This game is unlikely to be Batman related given Hill and Walker’s exit from Rocksteady, and it’s probably better for everyone if it isn’t given that it’ll be an Xbox exclusive (because, as we’ve discussed with Arkham Shadow’s VR exclusivity, a new Batman game available to a cross-section only is far from optimal for the whole of Arkham’s fandom).

The only positive throughout this incoherent mess is that a new Arkham game will happen. That is, according to DC boss James Gunn who when grilled on Threads regarding the future of the franchise and, more specifically, if Kill the Justice League will be the closing instalment in the Arkham universe his response was that no, there’re no plans for it to be the last. What’s more, in keeping with another of Warner Bros. statements, Gunn also confirmed any future DC game wouldn’t be linked to or based on any contemporary movies. These responses have since been deleted from Threads which reduces their significance or boosts their likelihood depending on how you look at it. Coming from the horse’s mouth, so to speak, it seems plausible Gunn has the inside track on something, somewhere.

Apologies, but there’s a lot of nebulous speculation in this feature. It’s all a bit ‘he said, she said’, but in a world where justice prevails (you know, the type of world Bruce Wayne fights to maintain) then another single player Batman game will come. An opinion though: assuming it won’t be some live service monstrosity it could well be a reboot, not a continuation of Arkham’s narrative. Whilst Warner Bros. are clear their games won’t be following their movie counterparts and despite James Gunn’s posts, Matt Reeves and Peter Craig’s The Batman was a reboot and a largely well received one at that. There’s endless scope for stories in Batman’s universe with a whole gaggle of supervillains to duel. If we’re to get a new Batman game, a reboot could be the way forward.

The Arkham games are some of the most memorable action games ever created, whether you’re a fan of Batman or not. Their atmosphere, their fluid, kinetic, intuitive combat, the sensational voice acting, and – above all else – their respect to the legendary characters inhabiting Gotham elevates them above a ton of games, not just superhero titles. Rocksteady was instrumental in creating these games, in getting the ingredients right, in understanding what makes Gotham tick, what makes Batman so perennially popular in mainstream culture. With a live service, free-to-play future that Warner Bros. are banking on, the possibility of a single player Batman game like the ones we’ve grown to love is unlikely. It seems that, for the time being, VR exclusive Arkham Shadow is our best chance of enjoying another single player Batman game – the travesty.

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.

Jak and Daxter trilogy

To break away from the linear storytelling in prior triumvirate Crash Bandicoot, Naughty Dog developed a new graphics engine capable of rendering seamlessly connected open environments rife for joyful exploration for their Jak and Daxter trilogy. Ostensibly a third-person action platformer, the series also featured excellent combat and movement mechanics underpinned by the Eco system – a substance that can dramatically enhance player abilities; move sets which became increasingly complex and satisfying as the trilogy progressed.

Recently, however, a new Arkham game was announced at long last- though this right here is a classic “not like this” situation. In collaboration with WB Games, Oculus Studios recently announced Batman: Arkham Shadow, a virtual reality spinoff being developed by Camouflaj exclusive for Meta Quest 3. On paper, of course, it’s a brand new game in the Batman: Arkham series, but analyzing the situation within its wider context for even a second shows just how tone deaf WB Games has become, and how poorly it continues to manage one of its biggest IP.

I should begin this with the disclaimer that this isn’t a rant against the game itself. Batman: Arkham Shadow may very well turn out to be a legitimately enjoyable experience. Oculus Studios has done an excellent job of supporting the Quest headsets with some really good games, and Camouflaj is obviously a talented studio, something that it proved beyond doubt with the genuinely solid Marvel’s Iron Man VR. There’s every chance that Arkham Shadow turns out to be a good game- but even if that does happen, it will remain representative of WB Games’ most frustrating tendencies as a publisher and IP owner.

The plain and simple fact that there has been no true follow-up to Batman: Arkham Knight even now, nearly a decade on from its launch, has been a constant source of frustration for fans as it is. The two studios that worked on the franchise – Rocksteady Studios and WB Games Montreal – were both taken off Arkham and put to work on other superhero games that were tangentially related to Batman, but were really just doing their own thing. The big problem, of course, is that the things that Gotham Knights and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League were doing were underwhelming at best and downright atrocious at worst, and in the aftermath of both launches, the vast majority of the people who played the games were left wondering why the studio behind them didn’t just make a new Arkham game instead.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League in particular was especially grating. Taking talented single player studios and turning them into underprepared live service factories has been a rampant epidemic in the games industry, and Rocksteady predictably fell victim to that trap as well. But not only did Suicide Squad’s shocking lack of quality further cement the notion that Rocksteady and WB Games would both have been far better served if the former had just made a new single player Batman game, the fact that it was set in the Arkham universe and proved to be such a disappointing (and at times downright destructive) return to it was also salt in the wounds for fans of the Arkham games.

Amidst the growing restlessness of the Arham fanbase and the recent disappointment of Suicide Squad, the announcement of Batman: Arkham Shadow comes across as massively tone deaf. It is certainly worth noting that the game is being published by Oculus Studios, and developed in-house by Meta-owned Camouflaj, which means WB Games is presumably going to have minimal involvement with the project. But seeing the company license out the IP for a VR exclusive spinoff while refusing to greenlight the next big single player instalment that series fans have been waiting for for decades is exasperating move- and, unfortunately enough, completely on brand for what WB Games has turned into of late.

Because, once again, many of the biggest issues that so many have with WB Games in recent years can be traced back to the company’s insistence on going all in on the live service fad. On no few occasions, the company has made it clear that it intends to expand its profits going forward by prioritizing recurring user spending in live service experiences, which is a strange decision to take at this point, when the games industry as a whole has seen a startling number of high profile live service failures, and major players seem to be more reluctant to try and get a slice of that pie. One would assume that the complete critical and commercial failure of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League would have set WB Games straight, but no- the company has only doubled down on its live service stance since then. Though the upcoming Wonder Woman title is apparently not going to be live service, it’s more than likely that the majority of other future WB titles will be.

The roaring success of Insomniac’s Spider-Man games has shown in no vague terms that there’s incredible demand for well-made AAA single player superhero games (to say nothing of the critical and commercial success that WB itself enjoyed with the Arkham trilogy), and there’s plenty of other major players in the industry who have been alerted to that demand and are set to come out with their own AAA superhero games in the coming years. But WB Games has decided in all of its wisdom that wasting massive properties like Batman in favour of live service games (that, judging by Suicide Squad, aren’t going to be great) is where the true gold lies. Never mind the fact that 2023’s highest selling game worldwide was WB Games’ own Hogwarts Legacy, an entirely single player game with no live service elements and no microtransactions.

So are we going to see a new single player AAA Batman game anytime soon? Sadly, all signs right now point to no. Warner Bros. seems all set on chasing the dream of endless live service money, in spite of the fact that its very first attempt to do so has fallen completely flat, while ignoring the deafeningly loud demand for a new Arkham sequel, or something that at least provides a similar experience. From the lack of a new instalment, to the disappointment of what Arkham’s makers have delivered instead, to the company’s larger frustrating business decisions, restlessness in the Arkham fanbase has been high, which is why it feels like the announcement of Batman: Arkham Shadow has come at the worst possible time.

That’s probably unfair to the team making it- in fact, it definitely is. The last time that Camouflaj made a virtual reality superhero game was Marvel’s Iron Man VR, and as those who’ve played it will tell you, it was a legitimately good game- which means there’s every chance that Arkham Shadow, too, turns out to be another impressive notch on the belt for the studio. For now, however, more than anything else, it serves as a reminder for how spectacularly Warner Bros. has mismanaged one of its biggest and most successful gaming IP. It’s a shocking display of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. WB Games has not only shot itself in the foot, it’s fed the decapitated foot into a meat grinder and then tossed the meat into a lake where it’s been digested and pooped out by gators.

Just make a new Arkham game, man.

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.

The artwork shows a grizzled Bruce Wayne, alongside what seems to be a new Batman sporting a modern Batsuit and technology. There’s also a younger Batman Beyond-inspired Batman who has a red logo on his suit, alongside red streaks on the side of his vehicle. If this was indeed a Batman Beyond game, that would mean the younger Batman depicted in the art is Terry McGinnis- though if this was supposed to be an Arkham sequel, perhaps this was Damian Wayne. You can check out the new concept art below.

Fans are still clamoring for a new entry in the Batman franchise, and while there aren’t any solid findings of such a game being in development, DC fans can look forward to Gotham Knights and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League when they release next year.

But there are other factors at play that make that wait seem even more unbearable. With it looking quite likely that Rocksteady are working on something that isn’t a new Batman game, it has fallen to Batman: Arkham Origins developers WB Games Montreal to take up that mantle and take the series forward. But Arkham Origins came out in 2013, which means that WB Montreal have been silent for seven years.

Well, not completely silent. What’s made the wait for the next Batman’s release – or even announcement – even more excruciating is the fact that WB Montreal have been teasing something for a couple of years now– something that they’ve never explicitly said is a Batman game, but based on all the teases (and numerous leaks) is definitely going to be just that. The fact that the intensity of these teases has only ratcheted up in recent weeks hasn’t made things any easier either.

But while we’re probably going to have to wait who-knows-how-long until they’re ready to openly talk about their new game that may-or-may-not-be-but-most-definitely-is a new Batman title, we can at least look at all the teases, leaks, and rumours about it and try and decipher what it’s going to be about. Here, that’s exactly what we’re going to be doing. Though these are all going to be educated guesses (or attempts at them, at any rate), do remember that these are still just guesses– so don’t blame us for not accurately predicting things if a few months from now it turns out that the game will see Batman and Mr. Freeze playing ice hockey while Poison Ivy and a disgruntled Robin watch from the sidelines.

The one thing that we can all be quite confident of even in the absence of an official announcement is that the Court of Owls is going to be heavily involved. For those who don’t know what that is, the Court of Owls is a shadowy criminal organization that first appeared in Batman’s very first arc as part of DC’s The New 52 continuity. Co-created by Scott Syder and Greg Capullo, the Court of Owls were revealed to be an organization with endless influence and resources that had been pulling the strings in Gotham from shadows for centuries, effectively having been controlling the city since the 1600s, thanks in large part to extremely skilled and capable assassins called Talons.

Since the very first day WB Games Montreal began teasing their next game, the Court of Owls has been front and centre and dominating speculation, while several subsequent leaks have suggested that they will be heavily involved in the story as well. The most conclusive piece of evidence comes from Court of Owls co-creator Scott Snyder himself, who tweeted about a video game adaptation of his work in September 2019, before promptly deleting that tweet.

And so, the next Batman game being focused on the Court of Owls is as close to being a lock as it can be in the absence of an official confirmation. But how exactly is the game going to make use of this formidable foe? What we have to work with here is far less conclusive than what we’ve talked about till now, but we can still make guesses based on previous teases for the game.

Just a few days into 2020, WB Games Montreal dropped one of their meatiest teases for the game when they shared three separate parts of a single image on various social media platforms, images that then came together to form a single crest. That crest, as luck would have it, looks very reminiscent of the Gotham City Police Department badge, from the eagle on top of the crest, to the wreaths on the sides, to the scales of justice between the wreaths. That latter specifically would point to a law-related entity- putting two and two together and arriving at GCPD as the answer here is not much of a leap.

But of course GCPD will figure into a game about Batman, right? How the hell does it tell us what the Court of Owls are doing and how they’re going to figure into the game? Now, this is purely conjecture, but as a shadowy organization that has been controlling Gotham from behind the scenes for centuries, Illumati-style, is it not possible that their undue influence may have found a way to corrupt the GCPD as well? And if the Court of Owls were indeed butting heads with the Dark Knight, might it not be possible that they could divert the GCPD and its resources into halting the crime-stopping activities of said Knight?

Speaking of Knight- a phrase that WB Games Montreal have been using with many of their teases for the game is “Capture the Knight”– a clever if obvious play on words, it’s also entirely possible that they’re being very literal with its meaning here. Corrupted by the Court of Owls, the GCPD could be hellbent on capturing and stopping the Dark Knight of Gotham, which means that the Bat might have to go up against the Law as he fights off the criminal organization. It wouldn’t be the first time a Batman story sees the Caped Crusader butting heads with the police, though the context here might end up being much more sinister than it typically has been in the past.

And it’s possible, in fact, that that won’t be all the Batman will have to deal with. He may very well have his hands full in terms of the people trying to bring him down, and people, in turn, that he has to stop himself. That, too, is something that we’re basing on a WB Montreal tease- one that followed the GCPD badge tease very shortly, in fact.

A mysterious webpage on the studio’s site shows the two crests they have shown through teases up until now slotted into a pattern that has the space for at last eight more crests. One of these is the aforementioned GCPD crest (assuming that that is what it is, of course), while the other looks very reminiscent of the Demon’s Head, and Ra’s al Ghul’s League of Assassins. And while the slots that are still open in that pattern might be pointing to more weeks and months of a drip feed of vague teases from WB Montreal, the entire picture might also be hinting at the nature of the game itself.

And so, Gotham might find itself in the midst of a good old-fashioned faction war, with the Court of Owls, the League of Assassins, and other groups fighting for supremacy and complete control over the city. Again, this is pure conjecture based on vague teases, and very well might not be accurate, but it is a very interesting idea. Arkham City sort of touched upon this (in a way), with various villains carving out territories of their own within the walled-off prison city, but that never really materialized in any meaningful way as far as gameplay was concerned. If the next Batman game were to do that, it could lead to some very interesting gameplay ideas- maybe it could even blend its faction-warring with something similar to the Nemesis system from Shadow of Mordor.

Finally, there’s another piece of info we can extrapolate from unofficial sources. Leaks have indicated that this game will feature the entire Bat-family as playable characters – which means co-op might be on the cards – and that it is going to be called Batman: Arkham Legacy. While the bit about the Bat-family is quite self-explanatory, the name – if it is an accurate leak – could be indicative of the game’s central conceit. Because the word “Legacy” in its title might be suggesting that the game deals with the aftermath of the Arkham series. Of course, there’s every chance that that isn’t the game’s actual name, or that it doesn’t hold as much meaning as we’re thinking it does- which means there’s every chance that the game is completely removed from the Arkham series’ stories and is doing its own new thing.

So that’s all that we’ve got to work with up until now- leaks, rumours, vague teases, and conjecture based on all of that. Some of it seems pretty likely, with evidence piling on top of evidence, while other bits are on shakier ground and might turn out to be inaccurate. More than anything else, what we need now – after an excruciatingly vague and drawn-out pre-announcement marketing cycle – is an actual announcement, and some proper, concrete information on what the game even is. As always, we remain hopeful that that’ll happen soon- and if it so happens that our (somewhat) educated guesses were on the money, we might just be in for the most exciting Batman game ever.

There’s been no shortage of leaks and speculations about the next Batman game over the past couple of years, and the complete radio silence of both WB Games Montreal and Rocksteady has only kicked those up a notch. The former have been throwing out some infuriating teases every now and then, and it’s likely that there will be even more of those in the near future. Before that happens though, an alleged new leak might have revealed some potentially interesting details about the next Arkham title and what it will lead to.

GWW claims that as per their sources, WB Montreal’s new Batman game is going to be a soft reboot of the series, beginning its own new continuity. Attempts had initially been made to develop a direct sequel to Batman: Arkham Knight, which would have seen Bruce Wayne’s son, Damian Wayne, taking up the mantle of Gotham’s Caped Crusader, though that project was eventually rebooted. That a Damian Wayne game was in development and that it was cancelled are both things that have previously been leaked as well.

WB Games Montreal eventually decided to start fresh and begin a new continuity. Their next game will allegedly release this Fall (some leaks have suggested it will be a primarily next-gen game), and that it will kick of a ew DC Games Universe. As per this leak, the game will be shortly followed by a next-gen DC game from Rocksteady.

Allegedly, a next-gen Superman game is also in development at Warner Bros., though as the studio itself has explicitly confirmed in the past, Rocksteady are not the ones working on it. Additionally, the report also brings up other details on WB Games Montreal’s upcoming new Batman title that have been leaked several times in the past, such as the fact that it will feature a playable Bat-family and feature co-op mechanics, or that its story will focus on the Court of Owls.

It’s best to take this leak – and all leaks coming from unverified and unofficial channels – with a healthy pinch of salt. WB Games Montreal and Rocksteady have both been notoriously silent about whatever it is they’re working on, and who knows how long that silence will go on, so whether or not we’ll be hearing any concrete details about their games in the near future is anyone’s best guess. We can at least keep our fingers crossed though.

The studio and its employees have been teasing their new game for a long time now (to the extent that many are beginning to get frustrated with said teases), and it’s looking that the next Arkham game isn’t too far away (hopefully). And of course, like everyone else, we’ve got our own list of things we wish to see the game do (or not do). In this feature, we’ll be talking about a few such things.

BATMAN VERSUS THE LAW

Over the decades, Batman stories have often seen the Caped Crusader going up against the law, as Gotham City’s cops try to chase down and bring in the masked vigilante, but that’s an angle that the narratives of the Arkham games haven’t really taken. And that’s exactly what we’re hoping the next Batman game – reportedly titled Arkham Legacy – will do. There’s a certain tension that an arc like that adds to any superhero story, especially when it comes to Batman, while it’s also something that would help differentiate the game from previous Arkham titles. It’s also looking very likely that the game will be focused on the Court of Owls as the primary villains, and as a shadowy organization that controls all of Gotham for the shadows, it’s very likely that their undue influence might push the GCPD into declaring Batman an enemy of the law.

NO JOKER

It’s often said that a superhero is only as good as their gallery of villains, and Batman’s incredible lineup of rogues is enough proof of that statement. And while The Joker is by far the best of the best that lineup has to offer, perhaps it’s time to let some of the others enjoy their time under the sun. The Arkham series has seen the Clown Prince of Crime taking up nearly as much of the spotlight as Batman himself, and his excellent portrayal in all four games (thanks to Mark Hamill and Troy Baker) has certainly been a treat to experience. But we feel like we’ve had enough of The Joker in Batman games for a while, and that the next game in the series should focus on other villains. With all the rumours about the Court of Owls, it’s looking like that’s indeed going to be the case, so let’s keep our fingers crossed.

A MORE LIVELY OPEN WORLD

Other than Arkham Asylum, every mainline game in the Arkham series has rocked an open world setting, and while by and large that’s been an excellent decision (especially in terms of what that did for things like atmosphere, content, and traversal), there’s still room for improvement in that area. One of complaints levied at the Arkham games most often is how empty their open world are- and not of activities. No, they’re literally empty. No NPCs, no civilians roaming around in the streets. And while each game has given narrative reasons for why that is the case, it’s something that fans have been hoping will be rectified sooner rather than later. A dynamic open world full of activity and NPCs you can interact with and who can react to the Batman flying around and beating up thugs is what we all want, and hopefully, with the next Batman game, that’s what we’ll get.

NO (OR IMPROVED) BATMOBILE

You saw this one coming, didn’t you? Batman: Arkham Knight drew criticism for a number of things when it first came out, and while its famously horrendous PC launch hogged most of the negative press, the game’s Batmobile sections have also come under quite a bit of fire over the years from both critics and the wider audiences. So of course, that’s an area that we’re hoping the next Batman game will make improvements to. The easiest way to do so would be to not have the Batmobile featured at all, which we wouldn’t mind, but perhaps the developers could try and implement the iconic vehicle in a way that isn’t… you know, bad. The biggest issue with the Batmobile in Arkham Knight was how overused it was, even in places where it made no sense – such as Batmobile-focused puzzles, or the mindless car combat. If the next Batman title does figure out the right way to make the Batmobile an integral part of the experience, it would be significantly better for it.

MORE DETECTIVE STUFF

Batman is, of course, the world’s greatest detective, but most of our time in Arkham games is spent beating criminals to a pulp. And while we certainly enjoy that, we would like Batman’s detective activities to be a greater part of the gameplay experience as well. This is something that Arkham Origins tried its hand at, and for the most part, it did it really well. The fact that that game’s developers are (probably) the ones who’re making the next game in the series fills us with hope and confidence that we might see Batman doing more of that stuff soon.

NEW TRAVERSAL MECHANICS

One of the greatest joys of the Arkham games (besides beating criminals to a pulp, which we mentioned) is using a combination of dive-bombing and grappling to glide around Gotham City like Batman. As great as the traversal mechanics have consistently been in the series though, we’re hoping to see something different in the next game. The next Batman title could just deliver more of the same as far as traversal is concerned, and honestly, that would be perfectly fine. But after having spent four games with those mechanics – mechanics that have been polished to perfection – we’re hoping the series will look to introduce fresh, new, and exciting things and then build upon those.

MULTIPLE PLAYABLE CHARACETRS

The Arkham series has often let players step into the shoes of characters beyond just the Caped Crusader, often even during main story missions, and that’s something that we’re hoping we’ll see more of in the next game. Ideally, that concept will be taken even further, with multiple playable characters all playing an important role in the main story itself, rather than non-Batman people being relegated to side content like they usually have been. Recent rumours have suggested that Arkham Legacy (if that is indeed what it is called) will feature an entire playable Bat-family, so here’s hoping those leaks are accurate.

NO LOCKED ENDINGS

Games locking their true endings behind certain requirements that need to be fulfilled isn’t that uncommon, but when that’s poorly executed, it can be a bit of a bummer. Exhibit A: Arkham Knight, which required players to get 100% completion in the game – which included every single side quest and every single one of those stupid Riddler Trophies – to get the true ending. So the next entry in our Arkham Legacy wishlist is pretty simple- none of that, please. Don’t lock your true ending, and if you do want to do it, do it so that players don’t have to spend upwards of 100 hours completing every tiny little activity available in the game.

NO MICROTRANSACTIONS

“No microtransactions” is something we hope to see in every game, not just Batman, but given the fact that this is a game that’s being developed and published by Warner Bros, we’re even more wary of microtransactions. WB has a knack for cramming its game with aggressive monetization, from Injustice 2 to Shadow of War to Mortal Kombat 11, and one can’t help but be worried that they might try and pull something like that with Batman as well. They haven’t done so in the past with the Arkham games, while one would also think that no publisher would want to do something like that in such a massive property (just look at what happened with Battlefront 2 at launch). Let’s just hope WB agrees with that kind of thinking.