Warner Bros. has reportedly delayed Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, an upcoming action multiplayer game from Rocksteady Studios. Previously slated to release in May, Bloomberg's Jason Schreier reports the game will now arrive later in the year, although no exact date was provided.
Rocksteady had previously released a fairly lengthy gameplay video during Sony's State of Play, giving players a look at Suicide Squad's 4-player co-op multiplayer action. The response to Rocksteady's presentation was less than enthusiastic as gamers took issue with the repetitive combat between characters as well as the game's overall live-service approach.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was confirmed to be a "Games as a Service" title, complete with post-launch content updates to expand the story and introduce new missions and characters. While post-launch support isn't necessarily a bad thing, many were quick to point out the downsides of a GaaS title, such as the always-online requirement (even if playing solo), plans for a battle pass and other purchasable cosmetics, and the dreaded gear score mechanic.
Sourcing "a person with direct knowledge of the situation," Bloomberg reports that delay has more to do with fixing bugs and polishing the game's rougher edges than addressing the fan backlash. There seem to be no plans to overhaul the core gameplay mechanics of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League or its live-service approach.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is an action-adventure shooter playable solo or co-op. Like the comic books it's based on, DC's most dangerous villains — Deadshot, Harley Quinn, King Shark and Captain Boomerang — have been brought together and are forced to team up to stop the alien invader Brainiac and save the brainwashed members of the Justice League. Gameplay showed that each of the four characters you can play as has their own unique traversal abilities and attacks, but even still, much of the combat revolved around shooting mechanics that all seemed very similar to one another. As Schreier noted, this delay is more about fixing bugs than addressing core mechanics, meaning we shouldn't expect a complete overhaul of combat.
Warner Bros. has not commented on the report or acknowledged the delay. The game's official website still has the May 26, 2023 release date. It will be available for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is the second blockbuster game from Warner Bros. slated for 2023. The publisher is coming off a massive hit in Hogwarts Legacy, a single-player action role-playing game based on the Harry Potter franchise which has already sold more than 12 million copies.