Unseen64 has revealed early footage of the cancelled movie tie-in game for Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight.
The game was initially expected to launch alongside the film in June 2008 but was never officially announced. Actor Gary Oldman, who played Jim Gordon, gave the only public acknowledgement of the game’s existence when he said he contributed to it.
Star Wars: Battlefront developer Pandemic was behind the game, but found itself unable to keep to its schedule. EA acquired the studio that year and set a new launch date of December 2008, to coincide with the release of the movie’s DVD and Blu-Ray. It didn’t take long for anyone involved to realise they weren’t going to hit that target either.
EA cancelled the game in October, at a loss of $100 million and shuttered Pandemic’s studio in Brisbane, Australia, which had been primarily responsible for the game, on Christmas Day of that same year.
Early concepts of the game can be seen in the video below but it’s clear that there was still a great deal of work to be done before it could be released.
A year later, after the Batman franchise had passed to Rocksteady and Warner. Bros, Batman: Arkham Asylum was released. The game offered its own take on the character that was distinct from the one in Nolan’s movies and has spawned numerous sequels including Arkham City and Arkham Knight. Batman Arkham Origins was released as a prequel to the game from Warner Bros. Montreal.
Rocksteady has stated that Arkham Knight is its last Batman game but given the popularity of the Caped Crusader, he’s sure to return in video game form before too long. Warner Bros. continues to hold the IP rights, after all.
Unseen64’s video is below.