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[Draugoth]

I have never seen a game with this much time invested, with this much money invested, from such a talented developer self-destruct this quickly. And now, things have gotten so bad with Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League that it no longer feels possible that the game will get out the year of content it has already announced for the game, as Warner Bros. does not seem like a company that is any mood to throw good money after bad, and they’ve already commented that the game has performed below its expectations, which has set them up for a tough year in their gaming division.


I understand if you are no longer following this saga, but this is truly bleak stuff. Suicide Squad did not debut well on PC or Xbox to start with, as the game was doing half Marvel’s Avengers debut numbers of Steam, and it never got higher than Top 20 on Xbox. It did get to #1 on PlayStation for a time, but after a short while, fell out of the top 10 entirely, and we don’t know where it is now.But after a month, things are just bleak. I haven’t seen Suicide Squad inside Xbox’s top 50 for a week at least. And now, on Steam, which yes, should be a solid place to play the game, I have 60 hours in there, now has hard-to-believe playercounts. The game peaked at just 593 players yesterday. An hour ago, there were just 287 players online. Reviews remain 80% positive, but it simply doesn’t matter. It’s an utter ghost town.

Steamdb

While the core game has problems, the biggest issues have been technical since launch, especially if you’ve tried to play online. That has been outright impossible for most people, and recent fixes made things worse, introducing a new loading bug that cut off previously unaffected players. Now, that bug has been fixed, but other issues remain. And all of these problems have meant that things like actual player and loot buffs and enemy nerfs have simply not happened (they did manage to nerf a popular build right away, however). The campaign of Suicide Squad ends with a literal the promotion of a year’s worth of content with four new squad members and a bunch of missions. They’ve revealed Joker already, but after that will be Mrs. Freeze, Zoe Lawton and Deathstroke, we already know through accidental in-game reveals or datamining.

But we are headed toward a traditional live service trap, that the game has so many tech issues that its seasonal launch may have to be pushed back, causing even more player abandonment. Joker is supposed to arrive sometime in March, but that’s tomorrow and we don’t even have a release date yet. Unlike Avengers or Anthem which despite their eventual failure, did run quite a long time, I do not see Warner Bros. letting Rocksteady finish even this first roadmap unless it quite literally is all already done, which is likely not possible. The Joker season, sure. The one after that? Maybe. But even if a year seemed like a guarantee, I cannot see that happening now.


There’s also the issue of monetization. This is similar, but also unlike Redfall, which promised two new characters it has never delivered, but the problem there being it actually sold those characters ahead of time. Suicide Squad, meanwhile, like Avengers, will offer its seasons and characters for free, selling only cosmetics. Good for players, I suppose, but bad for the idea that this can still generate significant revenue for its live content.


I did not like Suicide Squad much at launch. I still think it’s full of massive problems. But I did enjoy making builds and moment to moment gameplay over time. I would like more characters, more missions, and course correction from what’s gone wrong. But this game is performing badly at a level rarely seen, and it does not at all seem likely this is going to work. And I fear about future layoffs at Rocksteady given recent industry trends and just how poorly this has gone. It’s a brutal saga, and it may be about to get worse.

via Forbes

 

[R3TRODYCE]

Who didn’t see this coming besides WB.

 

[Fake]

So, the squad will not be able to defeat the remaining Brainiac?

 

[Flabagast]

Remember the shills who were saying "the game is surprisingly good guys !!"

 

[Ribi]

Remember the shills who were saying "the game is surprisingly good guys !!"

Well it can be a flop and good. Both can be true

 

[BobLeeSwagger]

WB is lucky to have Hogwarts Legacy be the big hit that it was.

 

[Alebrije]

Most ofForbes articles look like a thread from a videogame forum, sometime pointing the obvios like this one others just beings fanboys.

 

[Mister Wolf]

They got what was coming to them.

 

[FalsettoVibe]

Sucks for the studio......probably more layoffs incoming.

 

[dorkimoe]

i want to pick this up for 20 bucks, cuz i know ill enjoy the gameplay, but will it even work by then?

 

[LectureMaster]

If even Paul Tassi can see that, then it probably is more obvious than water is wet.

 

[DeaDPo0L84]

"No Mans Sky will always be the worst live service game at launch"

Suicide Squad "Hold my beer"

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

Hey guys, if we all decide to start paying more for games, that would really make this industry more sustainable.

 

[joeygreco1985]

This game has Game Pass written all over it.

 

[Zathalus]

Remember the shills who were saying "the game is surprisingly good guys !!"

I enjoyed the beta, presentation is really good and gunplay is satisfying. The big problem is repetitive endgame and subpar story choices, which you wouldn't have known about playing the beta.

 

[U n i o n 0015]

Create high-selling, genre-defining single player experiences or create derivative GaaS...who could guess which would sell more!

 

[Vyse]

Didn’t we see this with Anthem a few years back?

 

[LordCBH]

 

[March Climber]

Once it becomes 4.99 I'll be there..if it's not dead first.

Hey guys, if we all decide to start paying more for games, that would really make this industry more sustainable.

Wrong argument, wrong thread, wrong game.

 

[Guilty_AI]

Remember the shills who were saying "the game is surprisingly good guys !!"

I don't doubt there could be some decent fun somewhere in there. Problem is you can say that for a lot of cheaper games without GAAS crap.

 

[Arsic]

I enjoyed the beta, presentation is really good and gunplay is satisfying. The big problem is repetitive endgame and subpar story choices, which you wouldn't have known about playing the beta.

Bingo.

The end game is hot caca and brings the game down a substantial bit for the overall package.

Their approach to GaaS for the model is a very friendly one, but it won’t matter if the game remains dull in end game. The gameplay feels good and fun, but there isn’t anything interesting to do with it after campaign.

I wish them luck but even I think it’ll be a Christmas miracle if this game survives a year of post launch development.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Hey guys, if we all decide to start paying more for games, that would really make this industry more sustainable.

Nope, it will only increase corporate profits.

 

[balls of snow]

Cue the it was never suppposed to be log in everyday to play kinda gaas.

 

[Topher]

Remember the shills who were saying "the game is surprisingly good guys !!"

I still have the game rented from Game Fly and I'm trying to force myself to play it because of people saying stuff like that. About to give up and call bullshit.

 

[Interfectum]

 

[JaksGhost]

The last Hail Mary will be adding it to PS Plus and Game Pass like Gotham Knights to try and increase player engagement, but we're about 6 months away from that happening.

 

[Kacho]

I still have the game rented from Game Fly and I'm trying to force myself to play it because of people saying stuff like that. About to give up and call bullshit.

Functional but unremarkable

 

[Topher]

Functional but unremarkable

Yeah, sounds about right. Too many good games out there to spend too much time on something as bland as this.

 

[ReBurn]

It's kind of sad to see it go the way it is because I don't hate the gameplay. This should have been a $40 title tops.

 

[Roman Empire]

Paul Tassi should just stop covering Live service games. No way in hell he doesn't suffer from some severe stockholm syndrome. Let Suicide Squad be forgotten, no one cares about it and WB already admitted it being a financial flop, just kill it.

 

[NickFire]

I can't say its a bad game because I never played it. But I can say that I expected it to flop because of the combination of GAAS and how they designed Harley Quinn. So I am not surprised to see an article like this.

I'll also never understand why or how they would pay to license the IP and then not take advantage of it. Sorry not sorry, but Harley Quinn's recent popularity was driven by the actress who portrays her. She is a gorgeous actress who plays the role perfectly. I can understand not paying the actress for her specific likeness if the cost was excessive. But if the people making the game don't understand or reject the premise that Harley's current popularity hinges on her recent portrayal they wasted the money on the IP IMO. And gave me the impression it would be a game without a soul that was designed to extract money.

 

[adamsapple]

Just like Avengers, I'll probably pick this once they patch the offline mode and the game drops to $3.99

 

[Topher]

Just like Avengers, I'll probably pick this once they patch the offline mode and the game drops to $3.99

I bet we see it on Game Pass before the end of the year

 

[struggler_guts]

Hey guys, if we all decide to start paying more for games, that would really make this industry more sustainable.

Nope, it will only increase corporate profits.

Spoiler

atleast I'm hoping that's a reference to a thread a couple days ago and donkeypunch just forgot their /s

 

[Kenneth Haight]

 

[Hudo]

Good. It shouldn't,

 

[killatopak]

No wonder. They sell this for $70 and the story isn’t even finished?

 

[TheMan]

PS+ monthly game before the end of the year

 

[MDSLKTR]

I still have the game rented from Game Fly and I'm trying to force myself to play it because of people saying stuff like that. About to give up and call bullshit.

Do it and give them a -1 engagement

 

[bender]

I bet we see it on Game Pass before the end of the year

 

[Topher]

Do it and give them a -1 engagement

 

[mckmas8808]

WB is lucky to have Hogwarts Legacy be the big hit that it was.

That wasn't luck. WB knew they could have a hit there. But their stupid execs won't allow their other devs be great.

 

[Topher]

That wasn't luck. WB knew they could have a hit there. But their stupid execs won't allow their other devs be great.

What will be luck is if those same idiot execs decide the inevitable Hogwarts sequel shouldn't be a Gaas game.

 

[bender]

That wasn't luck. WB knew they could have a hit there. But their stupid execs won't allow their other devs be great.

The obvious answer is to make Hogwarts Legacy 2 a GAAS title.

 

[AJUMP23]

Hopefully the studio will get to make a new game a traditional game and not be shut down.

 

[Mobilemofo]

It might be me, but I believe nobody asked for a suicide squad game.literally nobody. I mean, why make a game with mid heroes nobody really cares about? But hey, wadda I know..

 

[Mr.Phoenix]

If you look up the definition of tone deaf, this game's name pops up.

Everyone could see this coming, from the very first showing of the game. Except for the devs making it and WB of course.

 

[Saber]

There were alot...alot of red flags this game has that people there couldn't see this coming. Ultra generic gunplay, derp and ridiculous cringe story, numbers everywhere, shadow orbs, visually lootcrates, etc.

The most important flag was from them, subtle telling people they were wrong and this game is indeed an Arkhan games at its core. Its just like that steak analogy I used. You complain of how bad your steak is and the chef goes to you explaining how wrong you are.

 

[poppabk]

I bet we see it on Game Pass before the end of the year

Exoprimal launched there and it didn't really help - I had to Google 'Capcom dinosaur game' to get its title as it left that little of an impression.

 

[Agent_4Seven]

I already forgot this game even existed.