Even before the release of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, controversy surrounding the game was present. The most questionable element at the time was the decision for a constant online connection – even if you aren’t playing co-op. So when it came time for the release, more hands rose in the overall decision for the game’s foundation and other aspects as well.
And by the power from word-of-mouth across the internet, it proved to be very effective towards the game’s engagement. On PC, the Steam overall concurrent player count hit a max of only 12,000 users at launch. Now only a few months later, that number is hardly over a hundred currently. Even with the addition of Joker in Season 1 back in March did little to improve upon that.
Now according to Warner Bros. Discovery, the firm appears to be very underwhelmed by the game’s performance, thanks IGN. In its quarter 1 financial results, revenue has dipped significantly when put against Hogwarts Legacy – which happened to be the best-selling release of 2023 even out matching Call of Duty. CEO David Zaslav frames this as “disappointing” in a subsequent earnings call.
Warner Bros Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels in a statement adds: “Starting with Studios, the $400 million+ year-over-year decline during Q1 was primarily due to the very tough comp we faced in games against the success of Hogwart’s Legacy last year in the first quarter, in conjunction with the disappointing Suicide Squad release this past quarter, which we impaired, leading to a $200 million impact to EBITDA during the first quarter.”
In total, an overall net loss of $200 million is attached to the performance of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. And, Warner Bros. is committed to follow this path for more games going forward. According to a previous statement, Zaslav confirmed that Warner Bros. is committed to entertainment more live-service titles over single player experiences.
What’s more is that the next Batman Akrham title does not even feature Rocksteady Studios involvement. Recently, Meta & Camouflaj announced Batman Akrham Shadow – a new virtual reality experience set within the Arkham universe crafted by Rocksteady Studios more than a decade ago. You can read the full report by heading here.
What are you most surprised about the performance of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League?
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is out now for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC.
