Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has reportedly been delayed again. As per Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier, WB Games has pushed its upcoming DC Comics looter-shooter out of its May 26 launch date to sometime “later this year.” The news comes after a recent PlayStation showcase of the title, which was received poorly by fans, due to developer Rocksteady Studios’ pivot to a live-service model, rather than the single-player Batman storylines they’re known for. However, Schreier’s source confirmed that the delay has to do with fixing bugs and ensuring a polish at launch, and that the fan backlash won’t affect the core gameplay.
For what it’s worth, this reported delay like this is good for Rocksteady’s latest, which was on track to compete against behemoths like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (May 12), Street Fighter 6 (June 2), and Diablo IV (June 6). The delay rids Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League of any major competition, and lets it shine in a safer spot. The game was initially set for release last year but got delayed for optimisation reasons. The State of Play presentation from last month confirmed suspicions and leaks, which suggested that the game featured some kind of a battle pass system and menu elements that aligned with a live-service title. All unlocks will be purely cosmetic and Rocksteady promises to continue supporting the game long after launch by introducing new playable characters, missions, and weapons. The studio claims that the new content will be available at no extra cost. There are no loot boxes either.
NEWS: Warner Bros and Rocksteady have delayed Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League once again, from May to later this year, according to a person familiar. A showcase of the game during a PlayStation stream last month was poorly received by fans https://t.co/R6gzNaftAv
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) March 9, 2023
In Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, you pick from four key Task Force X characters — Captain Boomerang, Deadshot, Harley Quinn, and King Shark — and set off on a mission to thwart the Justice League members who have succumbed to Brainiac’s mind control. While a four-player co-op system is the focus, the game can be played in solo mode as well, while the remaining squad is taken over by AI/ bots. However, the game’s FAQ page confirmed Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will require a continuously running internet connection. This means, even if you choose to play by yourself, the game simply won’t launch unless it detects an internet connection. It does appear strong on the co-op front though, even offering support for full cross-platform at launch. While a PS Plus or Xbox Live Gold membership isn’t needed to run the game on console, it will be required for online co-op.
For the uninitiated, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is set within the Arkhamverse, unlike another WB Games-published co-op title Gotham Knights, which dropped last year. In addition to the core content, that game heavily lacked in terms of optimisation, causing performance issues on PC while the PS5 and Xbox Series S/X versions were locked at 30fps.
That said, WB Games’ first title of 2023, Hogwarts Legacy has been a massive success, selling over 12 million copies within the first two weeks of launch. An impressive milestone, considering the amount of online discourse it generated in regard to J.K. Rowling’s controversial views. The studio Avalanche Software is currently hard at work on the old-gen PS4 and Xbox One versions of the game, which were recently delayed to May 5.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is slated for release later this year on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series S/X.