Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League, the third-person live-service shooter from Batman: Arkham developer Rocksteady Studios, debuted last month to mixed reviews from both critics and fans alike. However, Rocksteady is looking to pump something new into the game with the release of Joker as a playable character.
Teased back in January as an Elseworlds version of the popular villain, this Joker, notably not the same voiced by Mark Hamill in the Arkham games, goes live on March 28. Rocksteady revealed this release date the same day its parent company, Warner Bros., announced it is doubling down on live-service and free-to-play games.
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Warner Bros. CEO of global streaming and games JB Perrette explained at a Morgan Stanley conference, “We think the opportunity for us, which again, this is a multi-year [opportunity], because games is certainly a bit of a long cycle business too, but the opportunity is to take those four franchises [DC, Harry Potter, Mortal Kombat, and Game of Thrones] and be able to develop a much more holistic approach, particularly around expanding into the mobile and multiplatform free-to-play space, which could give us a much better and consistent set of revenue, and you’ll see us launching this year some mobile free-to-play games, which we hope will start building that,” as reported by VideoGamesChronicle.
Perrette continued, “And then secondarily live services, so rather than just launching a kind of one-and-done console game, how do we develop a game around, for example, Hogwarts Legacy or Harry Potter, that is a live service where people can come today and live and work and build and play in that world on an ongoing basis. And so, we think we’ve got the franchises, we’ve got some of the greatest studio capabilities, and we have a roadmap and a strategic investment plan to try and build out that business, and we think there’s meaningful growth over the course of the next couple of years.”
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Perhaps confusingly, this initiative to double down on free-to-play and live-service games arrives after Hogwarts Legacy – a traditional single-player game with a premium price tag and zero live-service elements – was the best-selling game of last year, beating out The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, and other heavy hitters. This initiative also arrives after Warner Bros. itself said Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League – a live-service game like the kind the company wants to double down on – fell short of expectations.
While waiting for Joker to hit the game, read Game Informer’s Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League review, and then read Game Informer’s Hogwarts Legacy review.
[Source: VideoGamesChronicle]
Are you going to check out Joker in Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League? How do you feel about Warner Bros. doubling down on live-service games? Let us know in the comments below!