Following its announcement back in 2018, Rocksteady's Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has been among the list of highly anticipated titles for many gamers. However, the recent Suicide Squad gameplay trailer has stifled expectations among fans, mostly due to the live-service elements. While the game is some time away from release, its negative reception could spell a cautionary tale for other franchises looking to incorporate multiplayer into narrative-driven single-player stories, such as CD Projekt's own The Witcher multiplayer game.
Over the years, the Arkham series has gained a sizable reputation for its Batman-centric narrative stories. Naturally, fans held similar expectations when Rocksteady's next DC project was announced set in the same universe. However, its recent gameplay footage revealed that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was in fact leaning on live-service, particularly with cosmetics and upgradeable loot. While live-service titles based on popular characters aren't new, the upcoming project marked a noticeable change in direction for Rocksteady both in terms of narrative and gameplay. The reaction to this change was significant enough that the studio delayed the game entirely.
CD Projekt Embracing Multiplayer with The Witcher
Of course, Rocksteady isn't the only company exploring live-service options with its games. For instance, Sony announced plans to release 10 live-service games by 2026 following the acquisition of Bungie. As story-driven single-player stories like The Last of Us are already getting the multiplayer treatment, more studios are seemingly adopting a similar trend. For CD Projekt, the addition of a multiplayer structure stands to make a notable impact on The Witcher one way or another.
Titled Project Sirius, CD Projekt announced that it was developing a new game in The Witcher universe back in October 2022. The game will be developed by The Molasses Flood and will include both single-player and multiplayer elements. The announcement was made along with several other Witcher games from CD Projekt Red, indicating that the company is looking to divest its portfolio through the IP. The company has yet to offer details on the story or potential gameplay mechanics for Project Sirius, although CD Projekt has stated that the game will still take a narrative-driven approach along with the multiplayer aspects. It's unclear what sort of framework CDPR will take with regard to incorporating multiplayer, but many speculate it will take some form of co-op play considering the narrative-heavy storytelling that The Witcher has come to be known.
Balancing The Witcher's Story in a Multiplayer Setting
Now, it appears that CDPR is already changing direction with Project Sirius as the company cited financial concerns; it's currently looking for a new structure for the game. With the project still in the early production phase, this pivot sets the stage for CDPR to take notes from a massive title like Suicide Squad to help build a promising multiplayer experience for players. One of the most important elements would come down to how far the game will succeed in balancing the story with multiplayer. While many fans will undoubtedly find the idea of playing live with other players in The Witcher universe to be an exciting prospect, the live-service experience should not overshadow any of its narrative aspects.
When Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League unveiled its story trailer in 2021, its synopsis garnered a lot of interest among gamers and anticipation only grew over the next few years. Despite this growing excitement, its gameplay trailer from early this year shifted general expectations due to the live-service segments. It should be noted that the current reception is no real measurement of how the game will actually perform when it eventually launches. Still, it points out an important aspect of building the right momentum for a franchise that's typically known for its narrative-driven single-player games.
Incorporating Mechanics and Cosmetics Into The Witcher Multiplayer
Another important consideration is how a Witcher multiplayer game would incorporate mechanics, cosmetics, and upgradeable loot. As an action RPG, The Witcher 3 already features cosmetics and various upgradeable items in abundance, but the developers built backstories to a lot of the notable items such as the swords in Witcher 3 which made earning them more intuitive with the single-player experience. A multiplayer environment can turn tricky where cosmetics and other forms of loot are usually integrated as a means of churning out long-term engagement from players that extend a typical single-player story.
One of the most notable concerns for Rocksteady's upcoming title is that its use of a standard third-person shooter and the upgradeable cosmetic system could hurt the character identities in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. For CDPR's Project Sirius, the character aspects depend on how much it will lean toward the multiplayer elements. Based on what's known about the game, it's likely the multiplayer aspect will push the game's story forward just as much as its single-player.
Project Sirius Faces a Challenging Endeavor
It's worth mentioning that integrating any form of live-service to story-driven franchises is always going to be challenging, particularly when these IPs have built a loyal fanbase over the years. Suicide Squad's reception is an indication of how chasing certain trends may not play out as well as a studio might hope. Although developers could often incorporate fan feedback to make changes to AAA titles, delays might not always help for games at the scale of Suicide Squad.
Fortunately for CDPR, the company has time on its side, considering it also has The Witcher1 remake and other Witcher titles on the way. This leaves CDPR with ample room to flesh out the story for Project Sirius as well as build out a promising multiplayer with viable mechanics and cosmetics among other aspects. Whether this will follow Rocksteady's strategy or look to emulate something like Titanfall 2's long-lived success, only time will tell.
The Witcher multiplayer game is currently in development.