Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has reportedly been delayed to late 2023 amidst widespread backlash to the live service elements revealed at its recent PlayStation State of Play showcase.
Bloomberg (opens in new tab) reports that publisher Warner Bros. has pushed the hero action game from its May 26 release date to sometime later this year, with Windows Central’s Jez Corden claiming (opens in new tab) it could be as late as Q4.
It’s unclear if the delay was purely a response to post-showcase criticism, but that feedback has dominated the conversation around the game, and there’s certainly enough negativity in the air to give a studio pause. That said, unless this delay becomes a lot longer, there realistically won’t be time for ground-up changes to the bones of the project, which are clearly game-as-a-service right down to the marrow.
Suicide Squad ate up much of last month’s State of Play, and most fans were more focused on the game’s hangups than its extended gameplay reveal. Our own Dustin Bailey lamented that while it doesn’t look awful, it’s impossible to get excited for another live service superhero game after Marvel’s Avengers and Gotham Knights.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is the latest game to require an internet connection at all times, for starters, despite offering a single-player mode. The last thing the game needs is another hurdle to clear, and this always-on hangup also gives it an inherent expiry date. If those servers go offline, so will the game. Fans were also concerned to see Rocksteady confirm a Suicide Squad battle pass, even if it is apparently cosmetic-only, as it adds yet another live service grind to the pile.
Rocksteady initially planned to launch this thing sometime in 2022, but it was ultimately pushed to spring 2023. Warner Bros. and developer Rocksteady have yet to confirm the latest delay.
At this rate Suicide Squad may end up competing with Starfield, which was ust delayed to September, and Baldur’s Gate 3, which is somehow releasing just a week apart.