The ESRB seems to have revealed a new upcoming port for Gotham Knights.
The ESRB rating for the game has added the Nintendo Switch to its list of platforms on its rating page. The game is still rated T for Teen, with a description indicating violence, blood stains, alcohol, smoking, and some expletives.
Gotham Knights, originally released in October 21, 2022, was developed by WB Games Montreal, and featured a scenario where Batman had died, leaving the job of protecting Gotham City up to the Bat Family, namely, Nightwing, Batgirl, Robin, and Red Hood.
While the scenario was fresh and fans were hopeful, the game ultimately did not meet both critical and sales expectations. It launched with serious technical issues on consoles, but also did not live up to the Batman Arkham games when it came to its own gameplay and design. Warner Bros did not disclose if the game at least broke even, but it seems they haven’t given up on it completely.
Only two months after releasing Gotham Knights, WB Games Montreal was reportedly already working on a new game. Earlier this year, Warner Bros’ DC related video game projects received a shakeup, when DC assigned a new team, led by James Gunn and Peter Safran, to take charge of the superhero megaproperty. Gunn revealed to the public their planned 10 year program called Gods and Monsters. Video games would be part of the mix, alongside movies and TV shows, and all these media would share the same cast of actors to play the same superheroes.
So all indications seemed to point to Warner Bros giving up on Gotham Knights immediately after its launch. It should be pointed out that Warner Bros did not have to take this direction. Other companies like CD Projekt Red and Hello Games revealed that games that flubbed at launch, like Cyberpunk 2077, and No Man’s Sky, can continue development to get their issues addressed, and earn their redemption arc.
So this news may be an indication that Warner Bros is going this direction, or it may be not. When Warner Bros makes this news official, they will most likely tie it to the coming release of the Batman Arkham Trilogy to the Nintendo Switch. That may also come with an announcement that Warner Bros has assigned a studio to keep working on Gotham Knights on its current platforms, until it meets expectations, and may get a re-unveiling.
But, it’s also possible that Warner Bros hired a capable porting studio, like Virtuos or Panic Button, to make a relatively cheap port of Gotham Knights to the Nintendo Switch, with no real changes or enhancements to any version of the game. This could just be a basic attempt to cash in on the game while it’s still fresh, for however it can still earn.
Either way, it seems likely that Nintendo will be revealing this game soon, in proximity to that ESRB rating.
