Gotham Knights Has Made A Terrible Decision Ahead Of Release

Gotham Knights is a highly anticipated DC title that fans are clamoring to get their hands on, however, a terrible decision has been made by the video game developer.

By Jason Collins | Published

Gotham Knights

Less than a day after revealing the latest gameplay footage for its upcoming Gotham Knights, scheduled to release on October 25 this year, Warner Bros. Interactive decided to do the unthinkable — they’ve canceled the game and shattered the hearts of tens of thousands of players. However, the heartbreaking news only affects the PS4 and Xbox One players; other versions of the game are developing steadily as we’re nearing the release date.

According to IGN, Warner Bros Interactive decided to pull the plug on the last-gen version of the game, stating that the company aims to provide players with the best possible gameplay experience, thus releasing the game on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC only. The game was originally announced supporting PS4 and Xbox One back in 2020, alongside cross-generation gameplay, but it appears that the delayed development has shifted Gotham Knights exclusively to the current-generation platforms.

Gotham Knights retained its latest release date, October 25, after being delayed back in 2021. The open-world co-op Batman game has no Batman since the narrative revolves around the Caped Crusader’s demise in an explosion prior to the events of the game. Moments before his death, Bruce Wayne left a message to his surviving comrades, telling them to carry on in his absence. Those comrades are the game’s four playable heroes: Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl, and Red Hood.

The recently revealed gameplay footage showcased Nightwing and Red Hood’s combat and traversal mechanics, the former of which irresistibly reminds us of the Freeflow Combat system we previously saw in the Batman Arkham series. With that said, the upcoming Gotham Knights is in no way connected to the previous games, which is somewhat suspicious, considering that 2015’s Arkham Knight ended with Bruce Wayne allegedly dying in an explosion — as part of the Knightfall Protocol.

Developer WB Games Montreal decided to use the Court of Owls — a generations-long secret society made up of Gotham’s wealthiest families — as the Gotham Knights’ antagonists. Though it does sound like something Batman should be able to handle, his death could be a proponent for the rise of the Court, leaving the Batfamily to deal with the villains. Players are strongly encouraged to become their own heroes and not look up to Batman or even try and become him — who knows; we might even find him alive by the game’s end.

WB Games Montreal, the studio currently working on the Gotham Knights, is also responsible for the Batman Arkham Origins — a game that caused the rift among fandom, as some consider it Arkham series canon, and others don’t. The game has generally received positive reviews but nowhere near the acclaim given to the Arkham series developed by Rocksteady Studios, which is currently working on a Suicide Squad adaptation, which will be formally revealed soon.

As far as the upcoming Gotham Knights go, there are also rumors that the developers might include a full 4-player co-op in the game, next to the previously mentioned 2-player co-op and single-player modes. However, those are just speculations; the official announcement, at least for now, just referred to the canceled PS4 and Xbox One versions of the game.