The ports nobody demanded for or expected were announced somewhat recently as the Batman: Arkham Trilogy for Switch. It’s not like these games are inaccessible or too old to have a current fanbase, and the first concern to hit everyone’s minds was whether each game’s performance and graphics would tank on the handheld system. On the other hand, having Batman’s exploits at fans’ fingertips again and while on the go may be fantastic for others, and it was even supposed to release this month. Unfortunately, Rocksteady has decided to delay the Arkham Trilogy.

There was already negative discourse around Rocksteady’s ports when it was learned that the Arkham Trilogy will not come all on one cartridge. Games moving away from physical releases doesn’t make this decision too alarming, though, and Rocksteady has bigger fish to fry anyway as it already has its hands full with the divisive Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. This upcoming multiplayer shooter has been controversial due to its live-service stance and its delay into early 2024, with the Arkham Trilogy’s delay to December setting another bad precedent for the developer’s endeavors lately.

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Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s Delay was the Only One Rocksteady Could Afford

Kill the Justice League’s delays were disappointing to hear about for any eager fans wanting to see more of the Arkham franchise’s next chapter. That said, because of how much heat Rocksteady received regarding the game’s insistence on live-service elements—which was a stark choice compared to its action-adventure Batman games—fans were likely more open to it being delayed if it could mean that favorable changes would be made.

It’s still unclear what changes will be made to Kill the Justice League by the time of its supposed launch in February, but even following a nine-month delay fans shouldn’t get their hopes up that anything substantial about its gameplay design will be different. Unless Rocksteady has something incredibly encouraging to show fans the next time Kill the Justice League appears, it will probably be doomed based solely on these pre-release expectations and assumptions.

Rocksteady’s Arkham Trilogy was never going to be some emergent effort, but reminding fans where Kill the Justice League’s roots were made could maybe help smooth that transition over and allow for a direct lead-up to the sequel. Now, with this port collection being delayed, too, Rocksteady might be marred by this pattern.

Rocksteady’s Going to Have a Steep Hill to Climb in 2024

The Arkham Trilogy releases in December, merely two months before Kill the Justice League. This might even be a boon since the distance between them being shorter could help make that transition from Batman to Suicide Squad smoother, but if the Switch trilogy performs poorly even after its recent delay it will only make fans more upset, and understandably so. Nobody should expect Arkham Knight to look or run better than it had on the base PS4, for example, though comparisons to these games—at least as they appeared on past console generations—will run rampant if the trilogy ports aren’t at least as stable or appealing, and that might be a tall order.

Even Kill the Justice League will need to compete visually with how Arkham Knight looks nine years later, and while the Switch ports shouldn’t be held to a standard of graphical fidelity it is still going to be a talking point regardless. The fact of the matter is that game delays insinuate changes or improvements are being made, and if those implemented aren’t up to par with what fans had hoped, it will create a chain reaction that blemishes Rocksteady until it can prove that it has something of quality to deliver. Only time will tell how successful either title is.

Batman: Arkham Trilogy releases on Switch on December 1.

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