Rocksteady Studios, the esteemed UK-based developer known for its work on the Batman Arkham series, is said to be returning to Batman for its next project following the dismal performance of its last game, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Beyond that, WB Games Montreal is now believed to be formulating an idea for a new Game of Thrones title. This all came to light in a new report that shed light on future projects said to be in the works at WB’s various game development teams.
A report from Bloomberg said, “Rocksteady is looking to return to Batman for a single-player game.” However, the report said the game is “years away.” There is no further information to go on at this stage.
Rocksteady Studios is best known for Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009), Batman: Arkham City (2011), and Batman: Arkham Knight (2015). 2024’s Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was a big shift for the developer with its live-service approach and multiplayer elements. The game failed to find a big enough audience, leading to massive losses for parent company Warner Bros. The game recently wrapped up its final wave of content, and many were upset over the game’s real ending revealing major characters who died were actually only clones.
The Bloomberg report also revealed that Batman: Arkham Origins studio WB Games Montreal was developing a live-service Batman game without Bruce Wayne. However, midway through development, plans changed, and the game that came out of it was the cooly received Gotham Knights in 2022.
After this, the report said WB Games Montreal tried to make a “1.5” version of Gotham Knights that aimed to address some of the shortcomings of the first game. However, sources told the site that higher-ups vetoed this idea and assigned staff to other internal game projects.
The report went on to say that the team at WB Games Montreal later pitched a Constantine game, and while management was said to be enthusiastic at one point, bosses ultimately suggested the team work on a game based on a more recognizable character. So it was decided to make a game based on The Flash, but that fell apart as well after 2023’s Flash, starring Ezra Miller, was a dud at the box office.
WB Games Montreal is now said to be assisting Monolith Productions on the new Wonder Woman game that is reportedly encountering its own issues and is developing a pitch for a new Game of Thrones title. There is no word on what the new Game of Thrones title might be, but given the wording that even a pitch isn’t finished, it sounds like very, very early days.
WB Games focusing on core franchises like Batman and Game of Thrones is no big surprise, as parent company Warner Bros. Discovery has said it will seek to maximize the chances of success by centering its attention on only the biggest franchises. Beyond Batman and Game of Thrones, a sequel to Hogwarts Legacy is in development at Avalanche Software.
This report came out no long after WB Games boss David Haddad departed the company. A replacement has not yet been named.
Warner Bros. gaming boss JB Perrette admitted to Bloomberg that WB Games is running into some tough times of late, but he believes the company will turn things around in time. “We won’t get back to the profitability we want to get back to in the next two to three years. It will take two to three years to rebuild, [and] reset to levels we want to be at, but the bounce back is immediate as far as going from loss-making to profitability,” he said.
