Suicide Squad Boss Downplays Live Service Elements Of Obviously Live Service Game

In a new interview, Darius Sadeghian, studio product director at Rocksteady, danced around the obvious fact that , instead claiming it’s “still full of the DNA that infuses the series” and adding that no “label” fits it. Since the moment , fans have been suspicious of the co op, open world shooter starring famous DC supervillains like Harley Quinn and Captain Boomerang.

and this wasn’t that. as players learned more about the game’s live service elements including a battle pass, emotes, seasons, and an always online requirement. That last one got so much pushback that sometime after launch. But that bit of goodwill hasn’t been enough to convince players that the originally planned for 2022—isn’t a live service game, even as Rocksteady keeps (weirdly) pretending otherwise.

, Sadeghian spoke to about and how the team at Rocksteady, who previously worked on the trilogy, didn’t set out to make a game in a “particular genre” but wanted to make a four player co op adventure. “For us, it wasn’t so much about making a game in any particular genre,” Sadeghian told .

“Rather, the focus is on creating a sense of flow and trinity between all our gameplay systems. That’s reflected in the way the traversal, melee, and shooter elements all blend together when you’re playing.” The director further explained that Rocksteady wanted to create a “community” around the game and let each player “feel like they’re part of the ” and that larger “global” community.

Sadeghain claimed that this has been a key part of the development of and that the co op shooter has been built “from the ground up” as an “experience that can be shared with friends.” This includes a bunch of online features like leaderboards, taunts, and emotes. The Rocksteady director also told that players will get content , new missions, characters, locations, gear, costumes, and “more.” .

Taking a step back, it’s pretty obvious that Rocksteady’s is a live service video game. I don’t think that’s controversial to suggest. Yet, , Rocksteady seems unwilling to concede that, yes, they are making an online live service video game with seasons and multiplayer gameplay. During the interview, noted that Sadeghian refused to refer to the upcoming co op shooter as a live service game.

“We don’t really think of our game as fitting with any particular label,” said Sadeghian. “[ is] still full of the DNA that infuses the .” We shall see. So why is Rocksteady adamant about not calling a live service game? Likely because that term has become linked to a string of , , and negative reviews within the last several years, after companies worldwide began adopting the approach in tons of games, Even if Rocksteady won’t say its new game is live service, , regardless of how fans feel.

launches February 2, though its publisher is unless you pay extra to play early on January 30. ..