"Suicide Squad Studio Announces Further Layoffs"

Summary

• Rocksteady has been hit with fresh layoffs after Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League's underperformance.
• The game's poor sales reportedly led to the studio's QA staff being cut by half back in September.
• The new layoffs extended to Rocksteady's programming and artist teams ahead of Suicide Squad's final update.

Rocksteady, the renowned developer behind the acclaimed Batman: Arkham series and the recent title Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, has faced another round of layoffs in 2024. The year proved challenging for the studio, particularly with the release of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which received a mixed reception and became increasingly divisive as its post-launch DLC unfolded. Ultimately, Rocksteady decided to cease adding new content to the game after a final update in January, which concluded the game's storyline.

The financial impact of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was significant for both Rocksteady and its parent company, WB Games. In February, Warner Bros. disclosed that the game did not meet sales expectations. Consequently, Rocksteady experienced substantial layoffs in its QA department several months later, reducing the team from 33 to 15 members due to the game's underperformance.

Unfortunately, the layoffs did not end there. As reported by Eurogamer, Rocksteady faced another wave of staff reductions just before the end of 2024. These cuts affected not only more QA employees but also members of the programming and artist teams. Around six affected employees, who chose to remain anonymous to safeguard their future careers, shared their experiences with Eurogamer. Warner Bros. has remained silent on these layoffs, much like their response to the earlier cuts in September.

Rocksteady Lays Off More Suicide Squad Employees

Rocksteady is not the only studio affected by the underwhelming performance of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. WB Games Montreal, the developer of Batman: Arkham Origins (2013) and Gotham Knights (2022), also reported layoffs in December. These layoffs primarily impacted the quality assurance team that had assisted Rocksteady with the development of Suicide Squad's post-launch DLC.

The final piece of DLC for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was released on December 10, introducing Deathstroke, a former boss from Batman: Arkham Origins, as the fourth and final playable character in the game's roster of anti-heroes. Rocksteady is set to release one last update for the game later this month. What the studio will focus on next remains uncertain. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League appears to be a blemish on Rocksteady's otherwise stellar record of DC-based video games, as evidenced by the significant layoffs resulting from the game's disappointing performance.