Rocksteady begins a round layoffs following Suicide Squad: Kilt the Justice League's flaws, slashing its QA team by half

Most metrics indicate that Suicide Squad: kill the Justice League did not achieve what it was intended to. It was intended to turn Rocksteady's Batman games into a multiversal service, hoping to grab a slice of the pie that Fortnite has been consuming for years.

It failed to meet expectations, cost Warner Bros Entertainment over $200 million and is still struggling to attract more than 200 concurrents. As I write this, only 56 people have it installed on Valve (though there are doubtless more elsewhere).

Things are getting worse. Eurogamer reported that Rocksteady had begun to layoff over half of its QA Department, citing, as stated in the report, "poor Suicide Squad sales directly as a cause". This would reduce the department from 33 to 15 members.

Staff informed the site there would be more layoffs, with one member stating that they were laid off while on paternity leave. Fortunately, Rocksteady's UK base means the employee should receive the remainder of their leave, regardless of whether or not they are unemployed.

Anonymous staff members expressed concern that the cuts to the QA Department would "leave the remaining colleagues shouldering more work" and that senior management expects the quality of future Rocksteady Games to "suffer due to this."

It's frustrating to hear all of this, even though it wasn't unexpected. I won't sit here and tell that Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League is a game that was unfairly maligned. It was a bad idea right from the start, especially after a Bloomberg report earlier this year painted a picture of a development process that seemed indecisive and unfocused about the game's gameplay mechanics.

There's not much I can add that hasn't already been said, such as the sad closure of Arkane after Redfall. Everyone wants to create a live service because they make money when the games are successful. But those metaphorical pulls on a slot machine were a waste. Of the talent of the industry, their work, and what could have been.