"Suicide Squad Studio Announces Further Layoffs"

Summary

• Rocksteady has experienced additional layoffs following the underwhelming performance of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
• The game's poor sales resulted in significant cuts to the studio's QA team in September, reducing it from 33 to 15 employees.
• Recent layoffs have affected not only QA but also the programming and artist teams, occurring just before the final update for Suicide Squad.

Rocksteady, the acclaimed developer behind the Batman: Arkham series and the more recent Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, has faced another round of layoffs in 2024. The year proved challenging for the studio, primarily due to the mixed reception and growing divisiveness surrounding their latest title, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. The game, a spin-off from the Batman: Arkham universe, struggled to maintain player interest, especially with its post-launch DLC. Rocksteady ultimately decided to cease new content development after a final update in January, aimed at concluding the game's storyline.

The financial impact of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was significant for both Rocksteady and its parent company, WB Games. Warner Bros. reported in February that the game had not met sales expectations. This led to substantial layoffs in Rocksteady's QA department in September, reducing the team from 33 to just 15 members.

Unfortunately, the layoffs did not end there. As 2024 drew to a close, Eurogamer reported another wave of staff reductions at Rocksteady. These cuts extended beyond the QA team, impacting members of the programming and artist teams as well. Several affected employees, who chose to remain anonymous to safeguard their future career prospects, shared their experiences with Eurogamer. Warner Bros. has not yet commented on these recent layoffs, maintaining the same silence they exhibited after the September cuts.

Rocksteady Lays Off More Suicide Squad Employees

Rocksteady is not the only studio feeling the repercussions of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League's poor performance. WB Games Montreal, known for developing Batman: Arkham Origins in 2013 and Gotham Knights in 2022, also announced layoffs in December. These primarily affected the quality assurance team that had been assisting Rocksteady with the post-launch DLC for Suicide Squad.

The final piece of DLC, released on December 10, introduced Deathstroke from Batman: Arkham Origins as the fourth and last additional playable character to join Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League's roster of anti-heroes. Rocksteady is set to release one last update for the game later this month, but the studio's future plans remain uncertain. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League appears to be concluding as a blemish on Rocksteady's otherwise stellar record of creating beloved DC-based video games, underscored by the significant layoffs that have followed the game's disappointing performance.