The launch of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has encountered a significant obstacle. The cooperative looter shooter developed by Rocksteady Studios is scheduled for a full release on February 2; however, its three-day early access period for pre-ordering Deluxe Edition customers was abruptly halted. Less than an hour into the early access, the developers took the game offline due to a critical bug.
On Monday, Rocksteady confirmed that numerous players who accessed the game during the early access period faced an issue where they reported having full story completion immediately upon logging in. In light of this problem, the studio decided to take the game servers offline to address the situation.
“We are aware that some players are currently experiencing an issue where, upon their first login, they have full story completion,” Rocksteady stated in a message on X. “To address this issue, we will be conducting maintenance on the game servers. During this time, the game will be inaccessible. We anticipate this will take several hours and will provide updates as we have more information. We apologize for the inconvenience.”
We’re aware that a number of players are currently experiencing an issue whereby upon logging into the game for the first time, they have full story completion.
To resolve this issue, we will be performing maintenance on the game servers.
During this time the game will be…
— Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League (@suicidesquadRS) January 29, 2024
The glitch could lead to players encountering significant spoilers regarding the story and available end-game content. It remains uncertain whether players can initiate a new game or are obliged to continue from the story’s completion point.
Later on Monday, Rocksteady offered an update, indicating that it had pinpointed the error affecting various player profiles. The studio is currently testing a solution, though it has not confirmed whether the issue has been resolved. “We aim to implement a fix and restore the game as swiftly as possible,” Rocksteady stated in its update on X.
We have identified the problem that was affecting player profiles and are currently testing a fix.
We hope to implement it and have the game back online as soon as possible.
Thank you for your patience. https://t.co/Z6vC5srfDC
— Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League (@suicidesquadRS) January 29, 2024
Leading up to its launch, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has faced several challenges, beginning with its initial gameplay reveal in February 2023. The game received criticism for its inclusion of typical looter shooter mechanics and the departure from the single-player narrative emphasis that characterized Rocksteady’s Batman Arkham series. Following backlash from fans, the game has experienced multiple delays, with its release now set for February 2, 2024, after an initial date of May 26, 2023, was scrapped.
In a broader context, publisher Warner Bros. has announced plans to evolve its major game franchises into live service models. During the Q3 earnings call in November, CEO David Zaslav revealed that Warner Bros. aims to transform its games into long-lasting products through ongoing post-launch content, seasonal updates, and downloadable content. “Ultimately, we want to drive engagement and monetization of longer cycles and at higher levels,” Zaslav stated during the call.
Rocksteady has also indicated that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will include free seasonal content updates post-launch, with each new season introducing new playable characters, challenges, missions, and more. Last week, the studio confirmed that the Joker would be added as a playable character during the game’s first post-launch season in March.
