DC Shocker: Studio Downsizes Ahead of 'Suicide Squad' Release

Following the disappointing performance of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Rocksteady Studios has announced further layoffs. These job cuts, impacting programming and art teams, come after a previous round of layoffs in September that halved the studio's QA staff.

The game's underperformance, reported by Warner Bros. in February as falling short of sales expectations, triggered the initial wave of redundancies. The recent job losses, confirmed by Eurogamer, extend beyond QA, affecting key development roles. Several anonymous employees shared their experiences with Eurogamer, highlighting the impact of the game's commercial failure. Warner Bros. has yet to publicly address these latest layoffs.

This isn't an isolated incident within WB Games. WB Games Montreal, responsible for Batman: Arkham Origins and Gotham Knights, also experienced layoffs in December, primarily affecting QA staff who supported Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League's post-launch content. The final DLC, adding Deathstroke as a playable character, launched December 10th. While a final update is planned for later this month, the future of Rocksteady remains uncertain following this project. The game's underperformance casts a shadow on the studio's otherwise impressive track record with the critically acclaimed Batman: Arkham series.