The long-awaited announcement of Rocksteady Games' next release has finally been made. As had been rumored, Rocksteady is currently working on a Suicide Squad game, based on the DC comic where villains are forced into performing dangerous missions for the government. Suicide Squad will be further unveiled at DC's August Fandome event on August 22. For the time being, however, fans are mostly curious about why Rocksteady took so long to announce it and what the deal is with the game's development.
Luckily, Bloomberg's Jason Schreier has some insight into Rocksteady's ongoing development of Suicide Squad. Schreier shared on Twitter a detail that might explain why Suicide Squad has been absent from the public eye. Specifically, Schreier says that development of the Suicide Squad game didn't start at Rocksteady until as recently as late 2016 or 2017. In other words, it's still in the heart of its development cycle. An earlier announcement would have left fans waiting longer than Rocksteady and WB would be comfortable with.
Adding some perspective for their Twitter followers, Schreier responded to a fan asking whether Suicide Squad will likely arrive before the end of 2021. Schreier says, "I don't think so," in response. If Schreier's knowledge of the subject is reliable, which is almost always is, then it sounds like Suicide Squad still needs at least another year and more before it'll be ready for launch. A 2022 Suicide Squad release or later appears to be in the cards.
The origin of Rocksteady taking on the Suicide Squad game is also interesting. Schreier reports that originally it was WB's Montreal studio working on a Suicide Squad game. The developer of Batman: Arkham Origins ultimately had its game canceled, only for Rocksteady to immediately inherit the license. Schreier doesn't explain exactly why this happened, but it sounds rather like either WB or Rocksteady wanted to do a bigger Suicide Squad game and WB Games Montreal paid the price.
Schreier goes on to say that fans shouldn't expect much in terms of a reveal for the Suicide Squad game at DC's Fandome event. A teaser and nothing more is what's expected. That's because the game's release is still said to be relatively far off. That's not likely to please fans who have been waiting five years for news about Rocksteady's next project, but that's how it is.
Some rumored details about the Suicide Squad game have leaked, however. Details like how Suicide Squad will be a Games as a Service title and how players will take on the role of villains-as-heroes including Harley Quinn, Deadshot, and other familiar faces from the comics. As the villains, they'll war against the Justice League itself, with Superman rumored to be the game's villain.
Suicide Squad is confirmed to be in development by Rocksteady Games.