Highlights

  • Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is facing a tough time in terms of initial physical sales, falling short of expectations compared to other comic-book games like Guardians of the Galaxy.
  • The game's poor performance on Steam and slow physical sales in general during its debut suggest an underwhelming reception overall, despite some positive reviews praising the gameplay and story.
  • The underperformance of Suicide Squad raises concerns among fans, leaving the future of the game and its potential updates uncertain.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League just launched, but it already appears to be in a precarious position based on initial physical sales. Developer Rocksteady's follow-up to its Batman: Arkham series is taking DC Universe adventures in a new direction by putting players in control of some classic Arkham inmates this time around. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League allows gamers to take control of the titular team of antiheroes and face off against the super-powered protagonists of the DCU. Of course, the new game has quite a legacy to live up to and some tough competition at the moment.

As the next chapter in the venerable Arkham series, the new title has some big shoes to fill. It's also facing comparisons to other recently released comic-book games. Some observers, for example, are arguing that Suicide Squad's traversal system doesn't compare to Spider-Man 2. With high expectations and a competitive market, fans of Rocksteady's new entry were likely hoping to see a strong release. It seems, however, that the new game isn't delivering.

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Suicide Squad King SHark
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Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is Sorely Missing One Core Member

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League pits almost all the biggest League members against the player, yet one iconic character is missing.

As reported on Twitter by GamesIndustry.biz head Christopher Dring, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is currently seeing sales in its first week that are roughly half of what Guardians of the Galaxy experienced during its release. Given that the Marvel game, which also featured third-person combat and a wisecracking team of unlikely heroes, was seen as underperforming itself, this doesn't bode well for Suicide Squad. Further, with some fearing that Guardians of the Galaxy's performance could set the wrong precedent for similar titles, Suicide Squad doing even worse could have fans of the genre worried going forward.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Leads the Week, but Still Falls Below Expectations

As Dring pointed out, Suicide Squad did lead other titles in physical sales this week, beating out Persona 3 Reload. However, it seems that this is more the result of slow physical sales in general at the moment, rather than a strong showing by the new game. With Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League having a rough start on Steam as well, it appears that Harley Quinn and her team are getting a poor reception in general during their debut.

A screenshot from Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League depicting King Shark standing in front of the other Suicide Squad members.

It's not clear why Suicide Squad is performing so poorly. It's received mixed reviews but has gotten plenty of praise for entertaining gameplay and an original story. Some argue that the title of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League put the game in a difficult position, forcing the writers to either kill off some beloved characters or fail to deliver on its promise. Others may argue it's a bad time of year for video game sales in general.

Whatever the cause, Suicide Squad's initial performance in terms of physical sales should be a cause for concern among fans and at Rocksteady. Whether things will turn around in the coming weeks or if future DLC will win gamers over remains to be seen. For now, players rooting for more third-person action in comic worlds will be holding their breath as they wait for updates.