Insiders Point to Shifting Vision and Inexperience with Live Services as Key Factors in Suicide Squad's Disappointing Performance

A recent investigative report into the development of Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League highlights frequent changes in the game's vision, the challenges posed by leadership's high standards, and Rocksteady's lack of experience with multiplayer and live service games as primary reasons for the game's underwhelming reception. Released by Warner Bros at the end of January, despite Rocksteady's successful track record with the Batman: Arkham series, the game failed to meet sales expectations, as revealed by Warner's CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels just a month later. The financial impact was significant, with Warner Bros CEO David Zaslav announcing a $200 million loss that substantially affected the company's Q1 performance. Bloomberg's in-depth report, based on interviews with over 20 individuals involved in the project, sheds light on the game's tumultuous development process. Notably, Rocksteady was not initially slated to develop Suicide Squad; the project was first undertaken by Warner's Montreal studio before being reassigned. The decision to transform it into a live service game, following the success of titles like Destiny and League of Legends, posed significant challenges due to Rocksteady's inexperience in this area. The game's complexity, including its need to support four players simultaneously, added to the studio's difficulties. In an effort to address these challenges, Rocksteady expanded its team from 160 to over 250 people in seven years, which managers found challenging to manage. The game's vision underwent numerous changes, including the scrapping of a vehicle system and a shift from melee to shooting combat, despite some characters being more suited to melee. This constant flux, coupled with a studio atmosphere described as 'toxic positivity' where criticism was discouraged, contributed to the game's struggles. Warner Bros' expectation that Suicide Squad would become a billion-dollar franchise, despite the genre's historical challenges, added pressure. The departure of key figures, including Sefton Hill and Jamie Walker, who went on to form Hundred Star Games, also impacted the project. Hill's perfectionism and the resultant bottlenecks in the development process further complicated matters. Despite the game's failure, Rocksteady is not expected to face layoffs, with Warner Bros recognizing the studio's current understaffing compared to other major game publishers. The studio is now involved in assisting with a 'director's cut' of Hogwarts Legacy and preparing pitches for a new single-player game.