Suicide Squad Developers Blame Monetization Push for $200 Million Flop
Updated
Updated · Kotaku · Jul 2
Suicide Squad Developers Blame Monetization Push for $200 Million Flop
3 articles · Updated · Kotaku · Jul 2
Summary
$200 million in losses at Warner Bros. became the backdrop for former Rocksteady developers Axel Rydby and Johnny Armstrong to detail why Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League failed.
Rydby said long development shifted key meetings from making the game fun to making it replayable and easier to monetize, leaving designers following unclear marketing spreadsheets instead of creative goals.
Armstrong said Rocksteady's success on the Batman: Arkham trilogy bred overconfidence as the studio pivoted to live service, while the game's scale and repeated small delays blocked deeper fixes and burned out staff.
The pair have since left to make Secret of Circadia, an indie deckbuilding RPG seeking just over $11,000 on Kickstarter and pitched as a reaction against AAA politics, monetization pressure and genAI.