Batman: Arkham Asylum was released 7 years ago and since then, Rocksteady has developed 3 of the best Batman games we’ve ever seen, and some of the best overall games in general. (I don’t really acknowledge Arkham Origins.) They’ve also created their own little self-contained Batman canon affectionately referred to as the Arkhamverse by fans, where WB has even made movies within and published books on it. So, it stands to reason that they’re not quite ready to leave their home away from home yet.
It was reported a few days ago that Batman: Arkham VR has been completed and submitted to Sony, which will be Rocksteady’s last game set in the Arkhamverse… for real, this time.
Eurogamer sat down with producer Dax Ginn at EGX, a huge video game press event that is similar to E3 for the continent of Europe. There, they asked Ginn what exactly is Rocksteady up to now, after Batman: Arkham VR.
Seemingly, Ginn doesn’t know or isn’t ready to reveal anything. He explains that given their great working relationship with WB and the fact that Rocksteady has continually gotten results for them, WB is loosening the reins and allowing them their time to come up with what they want to do next. Ginn says, “We can sit back and think what our dream game would be, and we have Warner Bros.’ support to do that.”
In the end, there was no big announcement. Ginn discussed how they’re kind of ready to leave the Arkhamverse, but afraid of leaving the comfort and security of something they love so dearly. He likens it to a relationship:
“It feels like… breaking up? There’s a feeling in the office like, it’s definitely time to do something else – we all accept that. But we all know Batman so well – we all feel comfortable in the Arkhamverse. We’re definitely letting go of that comfort blanket and putting ourselves in the position where whatever we do next is going to feel very different.”
But of course, they are excited to work on something new, “There’s always an anxiety associated with change and that’s where we want to be. We want to feel uncomfortable because we want to make awesome stuff.”
Rocksteady has proven that they are reliable game developers and always put everything into creating a vastly immersive and fantastic game. Whichever route they move to, without Batman, I believe I’ll be following them. Thanks for the Arkhamverse, guys.
Batman: Arkham VR will be exclusively for Playstation VR in October.