Kill the Justice League is the unfair villain of Warner Bros.' failings
Warner Bros. Discovery could be in financial trouble, but with its latest report putting the blame on Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League's door, it feels like an unfair reflection on Rocksteady's game.
08th Aug 2024 11:55
Images via Rocksteady Studios
Kill the Justice League is the unfair villain of Warner Bros.' failings
Warner Bros. Discovery could be in financial trouble, but with its latest report putting the blame on Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League's door, it feels like an unfair reflection on Rocksteady's game.
08th Aug 2024 11:55
Images via Rocksteady Studios
In years to come, it'll be interesting to delve into the dropoff of Rocksteady Studios and how Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League inevitably tainted the once-lauded reputation of the developer behind the Arkham trilogy. Unfortunately, things seem to be going from bad to worse for Rocksteady.
While there were complaints that 2015's Arkham Knight was the weakest of the trilogy, there were high hopes that whatever came next could be another certified banger. After nine years of waiting, it seems leaving Gotham City behind could've been a fatal mistake, as Kill the Justice League didn't feel like the Arkhamverse return we were promised.
Kill the Justice League is taking the blame for Warner Bros.' financials
It's fair to say that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League had its problems, with critics calling it out as a Destiny-inspired looter shooter that put its live-service credentials and bottom line ahead of the player experience. Sadly for Warner Bros. Games, that bottom line couldn't be any lower.
We previously covered how KTJL had reportedly cost WB a whopping $200 million loss, and in Warner Bros. Discovery's latest financials, we get a clearer picture of what's going on at the media conglomerate. It was only recently that worrying reports claimed Warner Bros. Discovery could be forced to sell stakes in its gaming arm.
As reported by IGN, the financials report that WB Games is down 41% in year-over-year revenue. On the whole, Warner Bros. Discovery has a reported revenue of $9.7 billion but claims a net loss of $10 billion. A jaw-dropping $9.1 billion is apparently due to impairment charges from assets underperforming.
There's a lot of financial jargon, but with the previous year sitting pretty thanks to Hogwarts Legacy selling over 24 million copies and becoming the best-selling game of 2023, the 2023-2024 year was never going to be able to reach these lofty heights.
The report directly names Kill the Justice League as a contributing factor to WB. Games' current troubles, which might seem somewhat unfair. On the game's official Reddit, it's DEFCON 1, with players claiming the end is night and not sure what the game's future hold...if there is one anymore.
One critic moaned, "I have little faith in them being able to do anything with this game. It's a bug riddled mess. It's the only time I wish I actually listened to the doom sayers and avoided it," while another added, "I got this game for free and won't pay for any MTX so yeah they’re cooked."
Season 2 recently rolled out with a gender-flipped Mr. Freeze, and with no sign of an offline mode, there are obvious concerns Rocksteady could pull the plug at any time. Although Kill the Justice League had pencilled in a return to Gotham and a Deathstroke-centric Season 4, it looks increasingly likely that the title will quietly be sent out back to be put out of its mystery.
About The Author
Tom Chapman
Tom is Trending News Editor at GGRecon, with an NCTJ qualification in Broadcast Journalism and over seven years of experience writing about film, gaming, and television. With bylines at IGN, Digital Spy, Den of Geek, and more, Tom’s love of horror means he's well-versed in all things Resident Evil, with aspirations to be the next Chris Redfield.
