Leagues of Gaming Execs Fall Amid Economic Crisis

Following the underperformance of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Rocksteady Studios has experienced further layoffs. The game's disappointing sales initially resulted in a 50% reduction of the QA team in September. Recent job cuts have now impacted Rocksteady's programming and art departments, occurring just before the release of the game's final update.

Rocksteady, renowned for the Batman: Arkham series, faced considerable challenges in 2024 with the release of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. The game received a mixed critical reception, and post-launch DLC only exacerbated its divisive nature. Consequently, Rocksteady announced the cessation of new content after a final January update concluding the game's narrative.

The game proved financially costly for both Rocksteady and its parent company, WB Games. Warner Bros. reported in February that the game fell short of sales projections. This led to the significant September layoffs within the QA department, reducing its staff by half (from 33 to 15 employees).

However, these layoffs were not an isolated incident. Eurogamer recently reported further job cuts at Rocksteady at the end of 2024. These affected additional QA staff, as well as programmers and artists. Several anonymous employees confirmed their dismissals to Eurogamer, citing concerns about their future career prospects. Warner Bros. remains silent on these layoffs, mirroring their response to the September cuts.

Further Layoffs Ripple Across WB Games

Rocksteady isn't alone in feeling the impact of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League's poor performance. WB Games Montreal, the studio behind Batman: Arkham Origins and Gotham Knights, also announced layoffs in December, primarily affecting QA staff who supported Rocksteady's post-launch DLC development.

The final DLC, released December 10th, introduced Deathstroke as the fourth playable character. While Rocksteady plans one last update for Suicide Squad later this month, the studio's future plans remain unclear. The game's underperformance casts a shadow on Rocksteady's otherwise impressive track record of critically acclaimed DC video games, highlighting the significant repercussions of the live-service title's failure.