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Batman Bought: Warner Acquires Rocksteady

February 24, 2010 in Press Release comments 10

Warner have recently announced that the company has acquired a majority shareholding in Rocksteady, the developers of Batman: Arkham Asylum and its sequel.

Warner just announced it’s acquired a majority shareholding in Batman: Arkham Asylum developer Rocksteady.

Rocksteady, currently working on an Arkham Asylum sequel for Warner, is understandably happy about the whole affair.

“We are proud to strengthen our association with WBIE, a world class publisher that we have enjoyed working with since we began developing Batman: Arkham Asylum,” said Jamie Walker, Rocksteady studio director.

Sefton Hill, games director, added: “The Rocksteady team is very much looking forward to creating more great games based on widely recognized Warner Bros. brands like Batman.”
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  • 0
    Daweii Feb 25, 10
    I am not sure if this is good or not. I am sure Warner acquired Monolith after the first FEAR game and then Monolith went downhill in quality. I think Warner take too much control once they own a company, lets hope they don't make Batman 2 a terrible game.
    • 0
      Hideo1 Feb 25, 10
      To be fair, it wasn't really a big hill for them to fall down after FEAR

      With Paul Dini's involvement I think Warner will stay away; he has been a diva in the past when it comes to messing with things he's working on XD
  • 0
    Curt Connors Feb 25, 10
    Fingers crossed for a massive free roaming Gotham action RPG from Rocksteady, with a huge cast of freaks
    • 0
      Hideo1 Feb 25, 10
      If by 'massive free roaming' you mean 'sandbox', then BOOOOOO. A game like that involving superheroes would only work if you're a villain, since driving around in the Batmobile and taking down pedestrians is what most people would automatically do even though, since this is a Batman based on actual Batman, that would probably lead to an auto-game over.

      And if by action/RPG you mean anything more RPG than the little in the first game, then BOOOOOO. RPG aspects in actions games are usually bullshit to begin with because all it means is a poor moral choice system (and this is Batman, I repeat Batman, not a character you decide on, he's already set as Batman) and the occasional choice of upgrades which either break the gameplay or are just plain boring ways of getting things you'd get in a normal action game via progression anyway.
  • 0
    Curt Connors Feb 25, 10
    Man, that's why I said a Gotham game, not Batman. And to refute the sandbox thing, if you didn't like Crackdown that's your problem.
    Gotham's damn near a character in itself, and presumably Rocksteady will have no trouble getting access to any and all DC content now. I'd love to see something where you started out as a bit player in an Arkham quality Gotham (Anarky or the Question maybe?) and worked your way up.
    • 0
      Hideo1 Feb 25, 10
      Didn't play Crackdown, actually, so I have no idea what that means

      Well then fair enough, my mistake. However I'd say if that happens it might not be a great idea to have it headed by Rocksteady unless they can handle sandbox-ness. I dunno though. I'd prefer they stuck to action games like AA tbh, just because the world needs more.
  • 0
    HisServant77 Feb 25, 10
    And there goes my hopes that the sequel will be equally or even more, awesome. Rocksteady did an awesome job on their own with the first one, what makes one believe having warner bros as a "boss" so to speak, will improve upon that or allow them to make an equally awesome sequel.

    I may not be able to bring myself to buy the sequel, so that I remember Batman as the glory he was in B:AA and don't have his name stained by an inferior sequel
    • 0
      Hideo1 Feb 25, 10
      Paul Dini.

      Legendary DC writer and possibly the biggest Batman nerd in the world.

      He will not let Warner screw it up. Trust in him. He's the Obi-Wan Kenobi of comics.
  • 0
    Curt Connors Feb 25, 10
    You mean he won't let Warner screw it up unless he gets in the way once too often and they give him the bullet
    Seriously though, after the waves of good press and profits for the first one they'd be bloody fools to do anything but let Rocksteady go make the game they want. So let's hope nothing goes wrong and the development goes smoothly
    • 0
      Hideo1 Feb 25, 10
      Actually I was more thinking he'd shout at them until they left him and Rsteady to it, since even the devs say the game wouldn't have been what it is without him.

      I may be jinxing things here but Warner, whilst stupid, aren't that stupid. They see the goose and know what made it lay the golden egg, so it's in there best interest to keep the conditions the same lest they crap out a bad sequel, so to speak.

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