There’s an interesting update on Rocksteady’s next moves.
As reported by Tech4Gamers, a new job opening indicates that the studio is looking for a Senior Core Engine Programmer, to work on low-level engine code and systems for Unreal Engine 5. Now, we know the term ‘low-level’ makes it sound like this could be the easier kind of programming job. But the opposite is actually true.
This is a very simplified explanation, but as opposed to high-level coding, which works at some level of abstraction, low-level code interacts directly with a machine’s instruction set. This code performs much faster, but requires a high level of programming knowledge, and in this case, specialized knowledge for Unreal Engine 5.
We know that things have not been rosy at Rocksteady Studios as of late. After releasing Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League to poor critical and commercial reception, the studio discreetly ended support for the title with their last expansion and a hastily produced ending to its story. Since then, the rumor from Jason Schreier is that Rocksteady Studios is now starting work on a new Batman game, returning to what put their name on the map. While this was immediately taken as the clear positive news, we should acknowledge that so many things have changed that adds a layer of uncertainty to all of this.
For one, while Rocksteady was fortunate to have avoided closure, they lost many employees to layoffs, but also attrition. No less than the studio’s founders left to start a new game studio named Hundred Star Games. We would be remiss not to bring up that Schreier had sources that claim those founders shoulder a lot of the blame for the failure of Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League.
On top of that, Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League also left Rocksteady with some inconveniences that would hinder them from returning to the Batman Arkham franchise in particular. The events of their live service title proved unpopular with fans, who would prefer a reboot or that the game be removed from the canon. While there are ways to resolve this issue, we have to also acknowledge the passing of iconic Batman voice actor Kevin Conroy.
And then, there’s the claims that WB Games are not trustworthy to their own game studios. Apparently, they led on WB Games Montreal and Monolith Productions by pretending to hear out their pitches for new games, with no intention of actually making them. WB Games is under new management now, but we don’t know if that company culture is still there, or if WB Games still knows how to make successful games at all.
With all our fears and worries spelled out, we wish the best for the people at Rocksteady Studios and we hope they can turn things around with their next game.
