Suicide Squad (film)

According to a job listing

Warner Bros. Games aren't pushing the brakes on games with live service elements any time soon, despite the whole Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League debacle. A new job listing at Gotham Knights studio WB Games Montréal suggests their upcoming game will have at least some of those long-term servicey bits to it.

Or, at the very least, its executive producer will need to be someone who knows what live services are and can do some live service strategising.

This executive producer listing is looking for a senior dev to "lead the development of a high-quality AAA game based on one of the iconic IPs from the vast Warner Bros. and DC Comics catalog". The duties which'll come as part of that involve a need to "oversee all phases of development, from concept to post-launch live operations."

Things get a tiny bit more specific about that last bit further on, mentioning the successful applicant needs to have a hand in "post-launch content and live service strategy" designed to keep players engaged long-term. "Deep understanding of the full game development lifecycle, including live services," is also listed in the qualifications and experience section, in case those previous examples aren't enough mentions of the L and S words for you.

Warner Bros. write that they're keen to see that the game "not only meets its goals but also pushes the boundaries of what’s possible within the WB and DC universe", which could well just be job advert speak, but the explicit emphasis on a need for "critical and commercial success" that accompanies it is a noteworthy given the context.

If this project does turn out to be a live service-focused DC game, it'd be following in the footsteps of notorious flop Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. In case you need a refresher, that game's failure saw it miss its financial targets and become the poster child for a tough period at Warner Bros. Games that eventually led to this year's reshuffling at the publisher, with Monolith Productions, Player First Games, and Warner Bros. Games San Diego all being shuttered.

There've also reportedly been a couple of rounds of layoffs at developers Rocksteady over the past year, because this is the games industry.

ARPG Gotham Knights, while not a hugely high-profile failure like Suicide Squad, ended up attracting mixed reviews at debut in 2022. Our Ed said it contained "the tiniest shreds of goodness", but confessed to not wanting to play more of it once he was done reviewing. Our Edwin's a bit more of a fan.

Here's hoping that if the Montréal studio are being saddled with the need to do a live service - possibly to counteract what's left of Rocksteady being permitted to go back to singleplayer by Warner's corporate overlords - they're at least spared the sort of bad time it sounds like the latter group of devs had creating their big, confused online thing.

@Milo Aguilar

Let’s watch The Suicide Squad React To Clark Kent's Desk

@Evelyndreo1

Let’s listen to Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League - Main (Menu) Theme Music/Song

@Evelyndreo1

Let’s watch How Superman Turned Evil Scene - Suicide Squad Kill The Justice League (2024)

@Evelyndreo1

Let’s watch Batman’s Death in Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League! 😳

@Evelyndreo1

Let’s watch All Lois Lane reactions to Justice League Deaths - Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League

@Evelyndreo1

Let’s watch Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League - Hall of Justice Sneak Peek

@Evelyndreo1

Rocksteady Studios recently released a new entry into the Arkhamverse, Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League, expanding on the Batman universe it built a decade ago with the Arkham Trilogy. Coming in as a cooperative live-service game this time, the title put players into the shoes of villains who are going up against mind-controlled DC super heroes. Unfortunately, the game hasn't reached the heights the publisher has hoped for.

In an earnings call earlier today, February 23, regarding Warner Bros. Discovery's fourth quarter performance, Chief Financial Officer Gunnar Wiedenfels had revealed Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League's launch hasn't reached the company's expectations.

"This year, Suicide Squad, one of our key video game releases in 2024, has fallen short of our expectations since its release earlier in the quarter, setting our games business up for a tough year-over-year comp in Q1," Wiedenfels explains. No sales numbers were shared during the call. Per the statements though, the game's business performance seems to be much lower than last year's Hogwarts Legacy, which was also published by Warner Bros.

"We are lapping the release of Hogwarts Legacy in February last year, which saw the largest portion of its very positive financial impact in the first quarter," he adds. The Harry Potter universe-set single-player entry broke sales records to even beat Call of Duty, making 2023's best-selling video game in the US.

Despite the storyline showing some promise, I found Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League to be a largly a repetitive experience in my review for Neowin, especially due to its focus on being a looter shooter.

Fans still have content to look forward to. Rocksteady has a year of new features, missions, and storylines planned for the live-service title currently. As a part of this, an alternate-universe Joker is incoming soon as part of its first seasonal content drop as a playable character.

Via IGN

LuhtorCoins can provide some new cosmetics to players in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.

As players embark on Metropolis in order to take care of the Justice League and Brainiac in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice, they might want to do so in style. For an optional cost, and to have no effect on gameplay, players are able to get their hands on LuthorCoins in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice, which act as a unique currency to purchase some pretty neat cosmetics.

RELATED

Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League – What Character Should You Pick?

Assemble a team of imperfect supervillains in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, and find which one works best for you.

There’s only one way to get LuthorCoins, and players are going to have to get their wallets out. However, they’re not an essential resource, and players won’t find any tactical advantage over others in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice for having LuthorCoins, other than the fact that they are wearing some unique outfits not available otherwise (even though Riddler AR challenges provide some).

What Are LuthorCoins?

LuthorCoins are an in-game currency in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League that can be purchased with real money from digital storefronts. LuthorCoins are used to only purchase cosmetic content, and give no advantage within the game whatsoever. Players can purchase in-game outfits, emotes, and other cosmetic items using their LuthorCoins within the game’s store menu. More items are expected to be added throughout the seasons. After all, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is a live-service game, so its feature of microtransactions is not surprising.

How Much Are LuthorCoins?

Players can purchase 5 different bundles of LuthorCoins with real money in each of their digital storefronts for PlayStation, PC, or Xbox. It’s not confirmed if these LuthorCoins transfer over between platforms, but players can find the pricing of each LuthorCoins bundle and how much they get:

• 5,00 LuthorCoins – $4.99

• 1,100 LuthorCoins – $9.99

• 2,400 LuthorCoins – $19.99

• 3,700 LuthorCoins – $29.99

• 6,300 LuthorCoins – $49.99

Let’s watch The Squad react to Clark Kent in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League

Let’s watch Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League - All Boss Fights & Cutscenes

Let’s watch The Squad react to Batman's Death in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League

Let’s watch The Squad react to Batman joining Justice League - Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has dropped into a brief 72-hour early access period for Deluxe Edition owners—or at least that was the plan. A bug that accidentally credited players with full, top-to-bottom completion as soon as they launched the game forced Rocksteady to pull its servers down for around six hours, alongside another hour-long maintenance period.

Suicide Squad costs $69.99, while the Deluxe Edition costs $99.99. If you shell out for the pricer version you're also getting a premium token for a battle pass and some outfits, but let's be real—most people probably bought it to sneak in the door 72 hours early. Having seven of your 48 hours of exclusive gaming time lost to an unforeseen bug kinda sucks (I shaved off 24 hours for three nights of sleep, which is a hair optimistic).

As spotted by VGC, Rocksteady addressed the downtime and offered a make-good via an in-game announcement, which reads: "We recognize that you’ve been patient with us during our initial launch server updates and we’d like to show our appreciation for your patience with a special gift of 2,000 LuthorCoins. Thank you again!"

Two thousand LuthorCoins—that's a little on the nose, but Lex would get into cryptocurrency—is worth about $20. Which is around 2/3rds of the Deluxe Edition pre-order in terms of lost "value" for Rocksteady. Though it's fake game-money used to buy digital cosmetics, so it hasn't cost the studio anything (unless the Time Value of Moneyapplies to LuthorCoins, in which case… I don't know, ask an economist, or Lex Luthor. He invented the damn things).

Standard bundles in Suicide Squad cost 1,000 or 1,100 coins at the time of writing, so you'll be able to grab two with your LutherCoin windfall. Legendary skins are just out of reach at 2,400 coins—though it ought to be noted that a 'legendary skin' is just one skin with all of its variants unlocked, according to some sleuthing by my fellow staff writer Morgan Park.

It's a token gesture for Deluxe Edition owners, though I'd imagine it's appreciated. Live service launches are always messy, and I do think this debacle is (as our UK online editor Fraser Brown noted) a sign that games ought to have an offline mode. It's also a cautionary tale: dangling early access as a way to sell your deluxe edition is a bad idea.

If you're going to insist on having your game be always-online—which Rocksteady will thankfully be walking back—there's no way to guarantee server stability or bug-free experiences when the thing launches. It's as they say: The only three certainties in life are death, game-breaking bugs, and taxes.

Harvey Randall

Staff Writer

Harvey's history with games started when he first begged his parents for a World of Warcraft subscription aged 12, though he's since been cursed with Final Fantasy 14-brain and a huge crush on G'raha Tia. He made his start as a freelancer, writing for websites like Techradar, The Escapist, Dicebreaker, The Gamer, Into the Spine—and of course, PC Gamer. He'll sink his teeth into anything that looks interesting, though he has a soft spot for RPGs, soulslikes, roguelikes, deckbuilders, MMOs, and weird indie titles. He also plays a shelf load of TTRPGs in his offline time. Don't ask him what his favourite system is, he has too many.

With contributions from

• Morgan ParkStaff Writer

Let’s watch Poison Ivy Trys To Kill The Suicide Squad - Suicide Squad Kill The Justice League 4K UHD

Let’s watch All Justice League Costumes | Suicide Squad Kill The Justice League

Let’s watch SUICIDE SQUAD: KILL THE JUSTICE LEAGUE All Cutscenes (Full Game Movie) 4K 60FPS Ultra HD

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League makes the threat of a neck bomb implant incredibly serious and gratifying if players dare to push boundaries.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Many open-world games have restricted areas or boundaries that limit player exploration, which can detract from the immersion of the game and leash players into tight, linear spaces.

• Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League offers an immersive and satisfying way to warn players of boundaries.

• Leaving mission boundaries in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League can result in the player's character being violently decapitated, reinforcing the game's restrictions.

Many ‘open-world’ games enjoy branding themselves as having a legitimate open world when in actuality the spaces players may roam are often restricted. This is either done implicitly, such as having power scaling in different regions of the map that deter players from otherwise freely exploring a treacherously overpowered area, or explicitly, such as having hard boundaries to the map players collide into when they’re traveling too far from a specific mission’s parameters and are kept on a tight leash within. The latter is an instance that calls the ‘open world’ descriptor into question, even while taking part in a scripted quest.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is an open-world game, for example, and it is not without these kinds of explicit boundaries. It’s surely difficult enough to wrangle together four playable characters in an open-world design as ambitious as that of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, and what Rocksteady’s done to achieve this is have players huddle together to initiate progression. It’s always unfortunate when players can’t simply run off wherever they’d like to, but thankfully Rocksteady has come up with the most immersive and gratifying way to express its explicit out-of-bounds warning.

Let’s watch The Squad react to Harley Quinn's Nurse Outfit - Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League

Let’s watch The Squad react to Joker's Death - Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League