Roughly 15 years since its inception, the Arkham series is still revered to a high standard and has an upcoming entry, Batman: Arkham Shadow, exclusive to the Meta Quest 3. Known for its world-building, lore, and combat, the Batman: Arkham series has several elements that give it its edge in the superhero video game realm, which is something that Camouflaj, Batman: Arkham Shadow's developer, had to explore and implement carefully over the last four years of development.

One of the crucial aspects that the team had to decide was where Arkham Shadow falls within the timeline of the franchise's other installments. In a recent interview with Game ZXC, Camouflaj Founder and Studio Head Ryan Payton said that the studio wants to put players on an "emotional" journey that not only has all the technical elements of prior Arkham games but also a meaningful story to create a "good Batman tale."

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Batman: Arkham Shadow’s Place in the Arkhamverse Timeline Explained

Batman: Arkham Shadow's reveal teaser and external sources leave blatant clues for players to discern where it falls in the Arkhamverse timeline.

Arkham Shadow Features A Younger Bruce Wayne

Announce_Batmanface Arkham Shadow

Arkham Shadow takes place between Arkham Origins and Arkham Asylum. In today's trailer, a distraught Batman narrates what's happening to his city—a voice that Arkhamverse fans will recognize. Roger Craig Smith will be reprising his role as Batman in Arkham Shadow, which was an intentional decision, Payton said.

Smith first entered the Arkhamverse in Arkham Origins, which is chronologically the first notch in the Arkham timeline. Smith's Bruce Wayne represented a less-experienced Batman, but the actor hasn't reprised the role since Blackgate. Payton added that placing Arkham Shadow after Arkham Origins allows Batman to be vulnerable:

"[Batman is] young, he's strong, he's powerful, he's had some success as Batman, and there's some arrogance that comes along with that as well."

[...]

"We wanted to put Batman through a pretty trying emotional journey that takes him into some pretty dark places, which I think is emblematic of any good Batman tale, but also very emblematic of what we like to do as Camouflaj in terms of telling meaningful stories."

Batman: Arkham Fans Missed One Huge Antagonist Easter Egg

Scarecrow Arkham Shadow

Payton said that tons of Easter eggs were in the initial teaser trailer. These included Dr. Harleen Quinzel's badge, who later becomes Harley Quinn; a "Vote Dent" pin and graffiti, hinting at Two-Face; and Ratcatcher's rats, gas mask, and gloves. But the one hint that Payton said fans didn't find was for Scarecrow: an Easter egg that was borrowed from Arkham Origins, teasing the origin of Dr. Jonathan Crane:

"That's an example of something that we're integrating—not just into the teaser trailer, but into the game itself; taking those core elements that were developed by Rocksteady and Warner Bros. Montreal and using those as foundational materials for us to build this first-time representation of Scarecrow before he becomes Scarecrow and how fun it's been to develop that."

Payton emphasized how closely Camouflaj worked with Warner Bros. and DC because they "understand the timeline better than anybody." This apparently led to a wonderful relationship and has hopefully allowed Batman: Arkham Shadow to thrive:

"It's been like that for the last four years; it's felt like a really perfectly balanced partnership in which they are guiding us to fit within the confines of the established timeline and the characters, but also giving us a lot of freedom to explore areas of the story that haven't been built. In my opinion, a perfect partnership is where you can strike that balance."

Just from the trailer, which Payton said gives an accurate representation of the kind of game ArkhamShadow will be, it's clear that Camouflaj has dove deep into Arkhamverse lore. It'll be interesting to see what other locations and characters are revealed now that the game's place in the timeline is established.