It may not seem like it, but Gamescom was last week, and many are still talking about some of the announcements and reveals that were made during the “Opening Night Live” presentation that helped kick off the show. What surprised many, though, both during and after the event, was the hype that LEGO Batman Legacy of the Dark Knight got. At first, it may have looked like “just another LEGO game,” but it was clear that the team behind it wanted to push for something so much more. The results of that first trailer were tracked by The Game Business, and you might be surprised at how it did compared to other titles shown at the presentation.
For example, there were several new games revealed at Gamescom, but LEGO Batman Legacy of the Dark Knight was the one that got the most buzz in one form or another. Let’s start with the easiest to state metric: wishlists. Over on Steam, the game got over 400,000 wishlists from players. That’s an insane number, and much higher than any new title that got revealed that day.
The Game Business also noted that certain site trackers looked at how many articles were written about the game, and some of them had a count of nearly 700 articles! That’s really good, and definitely helped spread the word about the title.
So, the question then shifts to, “Why did this game resonate with people so much?” The first answer is simple: It’s Batman. No matter what you think about the character, he’s the most popular superhero, by far. Games, TV shows, movies, comics, he’s the boss. His only true rival is Spider-Man, and he’s done more than Spider-Man in certain respects. Batman is simply a name brand that can’t be topped, even in LEGO form, and if you recall, there have already been many successful LEGO games starring Batman and his allies, and this adds to that legacy.
Speaking of legacy, the game is taking from all walks of Batman’s life. The announcement trailer showed off LEGO-style clips from movies like the Nolan trilogy, the Rocksteady video games, with the gameplay styles, and more. The team even said that we’ll see the “arc” of Batman from his days in training to becoming a true legend in Gotham. That implies that the title will be longer than most, and that will bring many to the table.
We’ll have to wait and see how it all goes, but this is a great sign of things to come.
