Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League wasn't just a critical flop, it was a commercial flop as well. Warner Bros. Discovery, the owner of developer Rocksteady, recently reported its Q1 financial results which revealed just how much money the game lost for the company.
Warner bros. Discovery noted that its Games revenue declined significantly year-over-year. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League "generated significantly lower revenues" compared to those generated by Hogwarts Legacy during the same three-month period, the company said.
Warner Bros. Discovery reported losses of $200 million due to the commercial failure of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
In a follow-up call to investors, Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav called the release of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League “disappointing." Chief financial officer Gunnar Wiedenfels went into a bit more detail, revealing an impairment charge the company absorbed as a result of the game's financial failure.
"Starting with studios, the $400 million-plus year-over-year decline during Q1 was primarily due to the very tough [competition] we faced in games against the success of Hogwarts Legacy last year in the first quarter, in conjunction with the disappointing Suicide Squad release this past quarter, which we impaired, leading to a $200 million impact to EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization] during the first quarter."
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was universally panned by critics with an average Metascore in the low 60s. General audiences were even less impressed by the game. With nearly 2,000 user ratings, the game sits at a "generally unfavorable" score of 3.5.
One of the biggest knocks on the game was its live service elements, although the game was also criticized for its repetitive mission design, dull gameplay mechanics, and bland endgame.
The poor reviews and sales for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League didn't necessarily come as a surprise to those who paid attention to the game's early trailers. Perhaps what was more surprising was that this is a game from Rocksteady Studios, the developer of the critically acclaimed Batman: Arkham franchise.
The disappointing sales performance probably couldn't come at a worse time for Rocksteady. Despite the studio's past successes, it likely puts the studio at risk for layoffs. The gaming industry as a whole has been struggling this year with numerous studios closing and more than 10,000 employees laid off this year. This doesn't necessarily mean Rocksteady Studios will suffer the same fate, but it probably isn't a good sign.
Warner Bros Discovery has yet to announce Rocksteady's next project, but earlier thi smontht he company revealed a new VR game Batman: Arkham Shadow. Despite being set in the Arkhamverse, it's being developed by Camouflaj, the developer of the Iron Man VR game. It's set to release exclusively on the Meta Quest 3 later this year.