Summary
- Rocksteady has faced additional layoffs following the underwhelming performance of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
- The game's disappointing sales led to significant cuts in the studio's QA department back in September.
- The latest layoffs have affected Rocksteady's programming and artist teams, occurring just before the final update for Suicide Squad.
Rocksteady, renowned for the Batman: Arkham series and the recent Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, has encountered another wave of layoffs in 2024. The year proved challenging for the studio, with their latest release, the Batman: Arkham spin-off Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, receiving mixed reviews upon launch. The game's post-launch DLC further polarized the community, leading Rocksteady to announce that no new content would be added beyond a final update in January, which aimed to conclude the game's narrative.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League represented a significant investment for both Rocksteady and its parent company, WB Games. However, Warner Bros. reported in February that the game had not met its sales targets. This led to substantial layoffs within Rocksteady's QA department later that year, with the team being reduced from 33 to 15 employees.
Unfortunately, the layoffs did not end there. As 2024 drew to a close, Eurogamer reported another round of staff reductions at Rocksteady, affecting not only more QA personnel but also members of the programming and artist teams. Approximately half a dozen affected employees shared their experiences with Eurogamer anonymously, concerned about their future job prospects. Warner Bros. has remained silent on both this recent round of layoffs and the earlier cuts in September.
Rocksteady Lays Off More Suicide Squad Employees
Rocksteady is not the only studio impacted by the underperformance of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. WB Games Montreal, the developer behind 2013's Batman: Arkham Origins and 2022's Gotham Knights, also faced layoffs in December. These cuts primarily affected the quality assurance team that had supported Rocksteady during the development of Suicide Squad's post-launch DLC.
The final piece of this DLC was released on December 10, introducing Deathstroke from Batman: Arkham Origins as the fourth and final playable character in 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, leaving the studio's future uncertain. The conclusion of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League marks a challenging chapter for Rocksteady, known for its acclaimed DC-based games, as the game's poor reception and subsequent layoffs leave a lasting impact on the studio's legacy.
