Batman: Arkham City artist Gabe Eltaeb, who worked with Paul Dini and Carlos D’anda on the companion comics, roasted DC and Rocksteady Games for their abysmal failure with Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
The Suicide Squad in Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League (2024), Rocksteady
After it was reported that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League had less than 1,000 active players by PCGamesN just two weeks after the game was released, Eltaeb posted to X.
He wrote, “I guess I was right, DC & Rocksteady Games. You left wing activists cannot make great or even mediocre art. Enjoy your failure. You’ve earned it. You could NEVER match what I did with Carlos D’anda and Paul Dini in the Arkham universe. Art is about truth, and beauty. Commies are nothing but cowards and hacks. Don’t hire SJWs activists unless you want to lose money.”
I guess I was right. @DCOfficial @RocksteadyGames
You left wing activists cannot make great or even mediocre art.
Enjoy your failure. You’ve earned it.
You could NEVER match what I did with Carlos D’anda and Paul Dini in the Arkham universe.
Art is about truth, and… pic.twitter.com/edPjzSV9eS
— Gabe Eltaeb Big Man Comics (@Bigmancomics) February 17, 2024
YouTuber Vara Dark reacted to Eltaeb’s comments saying, “This is so true. Unfortunately, the Rocksteady that made the previous Arkham games are long gone. Those individuals left years and years ago. And now they have been replaced with teams of people who just want to push their own personal brand of politics and activism.”
“They unfortunately cannot leave that at the door when they enter the office in the morning because that is just what they want to shove into the work that they are creating,” she continued. “And it’s just so sad to see, right? Because so many of us wanted this game to be good.”
According to Steam Charts, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League had an all-time peak number of players of 13,459 and a 24-hour peak of 1,252. It had an average of 3,676 players over the last 30 days.
Most recently, the outlet reported only 883 individuals were playing the game.
You can see below how quickly players abandoned the game.
Steam Charts data for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League
The fact that so few players are still playing the game is a massive blow to Rocksteady and DC as far as monetization because the game was clearly hoping to sell in-game purchases such as cosmetic items and battle passes.
The game’s FAQ states, “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will have cosmetic items available for optional in-game purchase that can be used to customize playable characters. Each cosmetics-only battle pass will also have premium tiers that will be available via an optional in-game purchase. All in-game purchases will be completely optional and will not affect gameplay in any way.”
If people aren’t playing, it’s nearly impossible to sell those items.
Harley Quinn about to execute Batman in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League (2024), Rocksteady
Just to show you how terrible Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is doing, Batman: Arkham City GOTY is performing better than it.
The game currently has 1,765 players playing as of 30 minutes ago and has a 24-hour peak of 1,765.
Steam Charts data for Batman: Arkham City GOTY
Batman: Arkham Knight is also outperforming Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. It has a 24-hour peak of 4,509 players and 4,509 players were playing the game 33 minutes ago.
You can also see that the all-time peak was over double Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League with 25,623 players.
Steam Charts data for Batman: Arkham Knight
It would not be surprising if the game follows a similar trajectory to Marvel’s Avengers and the game is abandoned within three years of release. Marvel’s Avengers was released in September 2020 and Crystal Dynamics ended support in September 2023.
Interestingly, Marvel’s Avengers doubled Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s all-time peak as well. It clocked in at 28,145. Square Enix admitted in 2020 that the game was “unable to completely offset the amortization of the game’s development cost.”
Steam Charts data for Marvel’s Avengers
What do you all make of Eltaeb’s roast of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League?
