Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Devs Felt Like Quitting the Industry After Launch

Two developers who worked on Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League have shared a candid account of their experience developing the game. In a new interview with Bloomberg, former Rocksteady Studio employees Johnny Armstrong and Axel Rydby discussed the challenges of working on the ill-fated title. Armstrong noted that the team was initially excited to move on from Batman after three consecutive Arkham games, but things changed once they started working on Suicide Squad. Warner Bros. wanted a live-service game, which was unlike anything the studio had done before. Rydby, who became the game's director in 2022, said the prolonged development increased pressure on the live-service aspect. With seven years of production, Warner Bros. sought to recoup its investment by pushing the team to maximize replayability and player engagement. "That's when I started feeling like I wasn't making games anymore," Rydby said. "I was following a spreadsheet, some elusive marketing-analysis spreadsheet that no one could present clearly. I kind of felt like this isn't the gaming industry I wanted to work in." Armstrong echoed similar feelings, saying he grew disillusioned after working on the game. "I felt everything drained from me," Armstrong said. "I said, 'I can't do this again. I don't know if I'm done with the industry, but I'm done.' I could feel myself coming apart at the seams." Both left Rocksteady and have since moved on to find projects that reignite their creative spark. They recently launched a Kickstarter for their new RPG deckbuilder, Secret of Circadia, hoping to raise $11,000 from backers. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was seen as a major fall from grace for Rocksteady after its beloved Arkham games, but hopefully it sends a message to Warner Bros. about the kinds of games it should make. While it's unclear what Rocksteady is working on now, rumors suggest a return to Batman. However, many key creatives from the Arkham series have left, so the next game will likely be different from Arkham Knight.