Highlights

  • Rocksteady's Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is struggling to attract players on Steam, being outdone by the 9-year-old game Batman: Arkham Knight.
  • Some fans have reacted negatively to Suicide Squad's live service gameplay, though others have been more positive about the game.
  • Future content updates could potentially revive its playerbase.

Rocksteady's Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is struggling to attract much of a playerbase on Steam, as the game is currently being outdone by the studio's own Batman: Arkham Knight, a game that's nearly nine years old at this point. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has been fighting an uphill battle ever since it was announced to be a live service game, with many fans outright rejecting the concept.

The Suicide Squad game release date was pushed back following an incredibly negative initial reaction to its gameplay, with many fans expressing disappointment that Rocksteady was abandoning its single player roots for a live-service co-op shooter. Suicide Squad's launch has been slightly more positive, but the game has still proven to be incredibly divisive. Some Suicide Squad game reviews have praised its action and story, while others have knocked its repetitive missions and live-service elements.

Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League launch trailer Harley Quinn aiming revolver still
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Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Details Changes Coming in Next Update

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League dev applauds players for 'breaking the game' while detailing a new update meant to deal with their achievement.

To its credit, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League currently has a "Very Positive" overall rating on Steam, so the game clearly has its fans. The problem is that there are not enough people playing it, with 4,087 players in-game right now according to Steambase.io, while Rocksteady's 9-year-old Batman: Arkham Knight has 4,391 players in-game. It's possible that these numbers are off, but regardless, it's clear that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is having a serious problem with getting people to actually buy and play the game.

Suicide Squad Game Steam Player Count Compared to Batman: Arkham Knight

batman arkham knight and suicide squad steam player count

The situation seems grim, but it doesn't mean that the game can't have some kind of comeback. Suicide Squad's positive user reviews indicate that there are those who do genuinely enjoy the game, and it's possible that word of mouth could convince more people to pick it up. Beyond that, it could be that Suicide Squad is enjoying a much higher player count on consoles instead of Steam, though at this point it's unclear exactly how well it's doing on PlayStation and Xbox. Suicide Squad's live-service nature seems to have driven off many players, but it could also be what convinces people to return to it down the line.

Suicide Squad has multiple seasons of content planned that will introduce new playable characters like The Joker and continue the story that started with the base game. This new content has a chance of bringing lapsed players back to the game as well as bringing newcomers into the fold. Combine that with a price drop or maybe bringing the game to a subscription service like PS Plus or Xbox Game Pass, and perhaps Suicide Squad can get a second wind.

Time will tell if Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is able to bounce back from its rocky start, or if it ends up suffering the same fate as the Avengers live service game.