Was Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Always Destined to Fail?

I called this from the moment the game was launched. After the commercial failure of Marvel’s Avengers, could we really be surprised that this game would fail?

I bought the game day 1 and I played it for around 2 weeks and I haven’t really gone back to it since for multiple reasons.

The game didn’t interest me whatsoever, even when I was playing it through I found it difficult to engage. The story was okay at best but the rest was lacklustre. The movement and the combat were not smooth at all, especially traversal.

The cosmetics were pathetically laughable. The UI was too overpowering to the point it hurt my eyes after 30 minutes and I’m used to playing long gaming sessions but this made me struggle.

I understand why the game came out. There are conflicting timelines for when this game began production. Some say it was right after Arkham Knight, some say 2016-2017 – either way, the studio, and developers could’ve never known this game would fail. Around those sorts of years, looter-shooter games were popular with the likes of Destiny and The Division.

I also firmly believe that once the studio saw the mess of Avengers, they would’ve known deep down this game was destined to fail but at that point, a lot of work has gone into the project so it makes sense not to turn back. However, they should have.

Rocksteady was known as one of the top studios because of the Batman games. All 3 Batman games that came out were loved and even now they’re still held in very high regard. People expected a fourth game, not this.

So there’s a point of failure there. The Suicide Squad isn’t massively popular with casual fans. The movies have helped a little but it’s like Marvel releasing a Thunderbolts game after their film, it’s just never going to do that well unless people care enough. You combine that with the looter-shooter type game and it’s never going to succeed.

You then add on a season pass day 1 with additional cosmetics and people already have their backs up before they’ve even played the game. The trailers were always destroyed by comments and even on Reddit too. Rocksteady needs to go back to the drawing board.

At the time of writing this article, a measly 134 players were playing 15 minutes ago (PC-only numbers).

The problem here is that the game’s failed already. I don’t believe there is absolutely anything they could do at this point to turn things around. Marvel’s Avengers did try so many times to update the game and bring out their promised (but late) roadmap of characters but in the end, it meant nothing.

I’m a fan of The Suicide Squad generally. When the first trailers came out, I was initially looking forward to this. When more and more content came out, the excitement dwindled quickly. I remember speaking to my colleague, Phil about the game. He thought it might do well and learn from Avenger’s mistakes, I said it wouldn’t last 3 months. I was right. It hasn’t.

I never see anybody talking about the game anymore. I’ve often forgotten it existed and only seemed to remember it when somebody brings it up which doesn’t happen very often.

As an avid video game fan, I just want to see games do well and cater to fans’ wants and needs. I understand sometimes developers miss the mark but we can’t continue to see the games not just miss the mark but never hit a shot in the first place. Fans matter, and their money matters – the more you go against the grain is when it’s never going to end well.

I hope Rocksteady gets the chance to go and create a 4th Batman game instead, even if we have to wait years. I’d rather that than what we got.

For a limited time, Paramount+ plans start at $2.50/mo. for 12 months! Billed annually. Stream the NFL on CBS live and more. Redeem now!