Rocksteady Studios Hit with Layoffs After Poor Sales of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League
British developer Rocksteady Studios, behind the successful Batman Arkham game series, has reportedly faced a significant blow with widespread layoffs. The studio, owned by Warner Bros. Games, has allegedly slashed its quality assurance (QA) department, with numbers reduced to almost half over the past month.
The redundancies are believed to have been triggered by the poor commercial performance of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which was launched earlier this year. Despite betting heavily on the live service model, the game failed to impress critics and players, peaking at only 13,459 concurrent players on Steam. In its first-quarter 2024 earnings call, Warner Bros. revealed it would take a $200 million hit on the game, citing lower-than-expected revenues.
According to Eurogamer, layoffs also impacted staff members outside of the QA department. One employee was reportedly informed of their termination during paternity leave. While Warner Bros. has yet to confirm the job cuts, Rocksteady senior management has acknowledged that the redundancies will impact product quality going forward.
Warner Bros. Games had high hopes for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, banking on the live service model to generate consistent revenue. However, the game’s failure has led to a 41 percent decline in games revenue year-on-year, with the company now shifting its focus towards live service games.
The struggling game’s poor reception can be attributed to several issues, including "baffling design choices, mundane mission structure, and unclear identity," as stated by Gadgets 360 in its 6/10 review. Despite this setback, Warner Bros. remains committed to the games-as-a-service model, vowing to transform its major franchises into live service games.
