Interview with Rocksteady Studio Product Director Darius Sadeghian on Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League not being a live service game

Rocksteady, the developer behind the critically acclaimed Batman: Arkham series, is releasing a new game, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. The game, which allows players to control one of four supervillains and take on members of the Justice League in an open-world city of Metropolis, has elements of a live service game, such as a battle pass and gear scores. However, Rocksteady seems reluctant to label it as such.

In an interview with PLAY Magazine, Rocksteady studio product director Darius Sadeghian refused to refer to Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League as a live service game. Instead, he suggested the game does not fit within any existing video game genre and the focus is on creating a sense of flow and trinity between all gameplay systems.

Despite the game’s live service elements, Sadeghian insisted Suicide Squad still holds the DNA of the Batman: Arkham series. The goal is to build a community and each player feels part of the Suicide Squad and the global Suicide Squad community.

The interview comes as the industry is struggling with live service games, with some recent efforts failing to gain traction and others being cancelled before launch. Some successful live service games have also faced challenges, such as Bungie’s Destiny 2 and Fortnite maker Epic’s layoffs. Meanwhile, single-player only games have seen enormous success in 2023, such as Hogwarts Legacy, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and Baldur’s Gate 3.

Wesley Yin-Poole is the UK News Editor for IGN. You can reach him at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.