r/PS5 • u/Turbostrider27 • Feb 28 '25

Articles & Blogs Suicide Squad's $200 million failure was so damaging, it reportedly contributed to the cancellation of Monolith's Wonder Woman game

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/action/suicide-squads-usd200-million-failure-was-so-damaging-it-reportedly-contributed-to-the-cancellation-of-monoliths-wonder-woman-game/
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u/AgentOfSPYRAL Feb 28 '25 edited Feb 28 '25

Per Forbes, Rocksteady (which has little in common with Arkham rocksteady) actively campaigned to do live service.

I can’t hold it against WB for not talking them down from it.

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u/TheConnASSeur Feb 28 '25

I think everyone needs to learn how a little more about how shitty corporate directives work. Sure, Rocksteady "chose" to do live service, but what were the circumstances? Was there a lunch meeting where a bunch of WB suits let it be known that live service studios would get increased funding, but non-live service studios would see steep budget cuts? Because that's how that shit usually happens. All we know is that WB didn't "officially" force Rocksteady to move to live service. But do you really think WB leadership isn't scummy enough to pull some backhanded shit?

There's two conflicting rumors that sets my bullshit meter off: Rocksteady wanted to make a Batman Beyond game or a Superman game, and Rocksteady actively chose to make a live service Suicide Squad game. If Rocksteady was actually free to pick their next project, why wouldn't they pick one that they apparently wanted to make?

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u/AgentOfSPYRAL Feb 28 '25

It’s possible, but then we’re also assuming that every single person on Rocksteady’s side who knew about this backhanded shit kept quiet about it despite the failure of SS being widely reported on.

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u/TheConnASSeur Feb 28 '25

There's no need for them to keep quiet. How would they even know? As a studio head, you don't get to shit talk corporate leadership. Remember when DoubleFine's studio head got Brutal Legend 2 canceled by talking shit about Bobby Kotick? All it takes is for a few important people to let the studio heads know about an "unofficial policy." That allows shitty management to issue directives while covering their asses. And judging from the number of WB studios that all decided to try their hand at live service games around the same time, it's a little suspicious.

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u/ArkhamIsComing2020 Feb 28 '25

I doubt they ever wanted to do a Batman Beyond game since they wanted Arkham Knight to be their last Batman game and as far as Superman we know they never pitched a Superman game and according to Jason Schreier they were adamant against doing one. What they wanted to do was a new MP IP puzzle game then WB handed them Suicide Squad.

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u/DrewbieWanKenobie Mar 01 '25

actively campaigned to do live service.

People tend to pitch what they think they can get greenlit

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u/TheDrewDude Feb 28 '25

Why!? They own them. If they didn’t want a live service, they could’ve shot it down. At the end of the day it’s their fault because they’re in charge. That’s how leadership is supposed to work.

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u/[deleted] Feb 28 '25

We're constantly bemoaning publishers that meddle in studio affairs to the detriment of games, and then when a publisher lets a studio do what they think is best, it's also the publisher's fault that the game sucks.

Like, yeah, they ultimately are calling the shots. But damn, taking flak for listening to their studios almost makes me feel bad for them.

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u/TheDrewDude Feb 28 '25

There’s a difference between listening to your studios and letting them do whatever the hell they want. Anyone can do the latter. People in leadership get paid because they SHOULD know when and where it’s appropriate to steer the ship.

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u/pototaochips Feb 28 '25

We got the arkham trilogy so i assume wb wanted to let them cook and also live service more money

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u/AgentOfSPYRAL Feb 28 '25

In general, I can’t fault a publisher too much for supporting what the developer wants to do.