Batman Arkham: what is the future of video games on the Dark Knight?

It has been 5 years since, on 23 June 2015, Batman: Arkham Knight made its debut on consoles and PC. Since Rocksteady, a software house that with its incredible trilogy has managed to give justice to the Dark Knight even within the videogame industry, has completely disappeared from the radar, without letting anyone know if and what projects it was working on. At the moment we do not know what title he is actually thinking about right now, although some persistent rumors suggest that it is an RPG set in the magical universe of Harry Potter.

Between the second and third chapters of Batman Arkham, however, we have seen a "small" parenthesis: in 2013 it came out Batman: Arkham Origins, prequel title that featured a young Dark Knight at the beginning of his crusade. The adventures of Batman before the events of the Arkham Asylum were not developed by Rocksteady, who in 2013, the year in which the game was released, was already engaged in the development of the final chapter of the saga. It was to replace the London studio Warner Bros. Games Montreal that, according to all the rumors that have emerged in the last five years and after some enigmatic images published on social media, he is working on a new title dedicated to Bruce Wayne's alter ego.

No more Batman Arkham?

Before we can talk about what could be the new video game dedicated to Batman, it should be noted that, according to what emerged after the release of Batman: Arkham Knight, WB Montréal would have started working on a new chapter of the same saga that would have had to have as a protagonist Damian Wayne, son of Bruce and legitimate heir of the cloak. As far as we know, however, this idea was discarded and this means that the fifth installment in the Arkham series It might have been permanently canceled.

In fact, according to the most recent rumors, Warner Bros. would have decided to definitively close the saga that began with Rocksteady in favor of a soft reboot, which would be based on the latest Batman Arkham, but a totally new storyline set in a different narrative universe. Indeed, this new title would kick off a real one videogame universe dedicated to the characters DC which could be followed by some important video games that have been rumored for some time, or one dedicated to Superman and one for the fearsome Suicide Squad.

In reality, regarding this last point, there are several rumors that clash with each other with some rumors that would still see Rocksteady take the reins of the project, and not WB Montréal. It is therefore clear that we just have to wait for an official announcement to clarify this detail.

The Court of Owls

Lovers of comics dedicated to the Bat Man will not struggle to recognize the Court of the Owls, a criminal society that operated in the shadows for over a century before meeting Batman. The presence of this company is one of the few things we know for sure about the new title, given that it was WB herself who anticipated it with an enigmatic post on Twitter. Two symbols have also been published, respectively of the Gotham GCPD and the League of Assassins driven by Ra's al Ghul.

Some rumors have also anticipated the presence of several other villains, such as Joker e Two faces, but these have not yet been confirmed. It would therefore seem that to sow chaos for Gotham there will be a large number of villains, but luckily Bruce Wayne may also have surrounded himself with several allies. Still keeping us within the field of speculation, the new Batman video game should feature several characters from the Bat-Family, which may be usable by the player.

Capture the Knight / Cape sur la nuit pic.twitter.com/yMFXMd4djU

- WB Games Montreal (@WBGamesMTL) September 23, 2019

Among the components listed in the various rumors, they are in fact Nightwing, Batgirl, Batwoman e Robin. To play the role of the latter, however, would not be Tim Drake or Dick Grayson, but Damian Wayne. It is interesting to note that the presence of Bruce's son is more than legitimate and would coordinate very well with the Court of Owls, which we have seen as the main antagonist in the narrative arc. The Night of the Owls and in the animated film Batman vs. Robin. The software house could therefore have drawn inspiration from these two works to create the plot of the new video game about Batman.

What awaits us?

Perhaps everything that has emerged to date will turn out to be false, or it will almost entirely represent the next title dedicated to the Dark Knight. What is certain is that WB Montreal, or Rocksteady Studios, must have done really well. On balance, a soft reboot actually seems the most reasonable way and, at the same time, also the most courageous. If on the one hand, in fact, setting the new video game in a different universe could be a wise choice to prevent the title from presenting itself as a simple "Batman: Arkham Knight extended" (a more of the same), on the other hand some fans may struggle to let go of the beautiful world created by Batman Arkham.

From the point of view of the gameplay we cannot yet express ourselves, not even the rumors, although they have suggested the presence of different mechanics such as the presence of vehicles with whom it would be possible to move quickly around the city, but not fight, they have disseminated concrete information. The fact that we are talking about a soft reboot, however, would seem to anticipate that the playful structure of the Arkham series could have been kept as a basis for this new project and that therefore the gameplay could be quite similar to the predecessors, albeit with the necessary changes.

An all too dark Knight

Between rumors and indiscretions, only one thing is certain: the public has been waiting and waiting for too long. The constant rumors continued to fuel thehyping of the fans and, above all, also the hope that the reveal was now close. Yet we have not had official news of the new Batman video game for years and even when it seemed that something was finally moving with WB and the publication of that mysterious teaser, we did not know anything more.

Even when ai The Game Awards 2019 the presence of this new title seemed certain by now, we were left with a dry mouth. So we just have to hope that the new Batman, whether it's part of the Arkham series or not, shows up as soon as possible. A recent rumor would see the game announced for Thursday 7 May during theInside Xbox dedicated to Xbox Series X and would therefore suggest a title cross-gen or even for the next generation of consoles, but even this remains only a speculation. What is now clear is that Batman must show himself to the public, given that all this mystery, this too much darkness, could prove counterproductive for the title.