Rocksteady Devs Reveal Why They Nearly Quit After Suicide Squad Launch
Two developers who previously worked on Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League have shared a candid look at what it was like to develop the project, describing how the studio’s priorities shifted as the game moved further into production.
In a recent interview with Bloomberg, two former employees from Rocksteady Studio spoke about their time on the troubled title. Designer Johnny Armstrong said the team initially felt energized by the chance to move on from Batman, especially after completing three straight Arkham games. However, once work on Suicide Squad began, he said the situation changed quickly. Armstrong explained that Warner Bros. pushed for a live-service model—something the studio hadn’t attempted before—altering the atmosphere and direction of the work.
Axel Rydby, who took over as the game’s director in 2022, added that the lengthy development timeline created extra strain for the live-service aspect of the production. He said the seven-year development period put pressure on the team, as Warner Bros. looked for ways to recover its investment and pushed the group to improve replay value and keep players engaged for longer.
Live-service pressure and creative burnout
Armstrong described a growing sense that he was no longer making games in the traditional sense. He said the work began to feel less like creative development and more like process management driven by performance expectations. “That’s when I started feeling like I wasn’t making games anymore,” he said. He continued, explaining that he felt pulled into tracking systems—specifically referencing an elusive spreadsheet used for marketing-style analysis that he claimed was hard to communicate clearly. Armstrong said the experience made him feel disconnected from the kind of industry work he wanted to do.
He echoed those sentiments more broadly, saying that after working on Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, he became increasingly disillusioned with the industry.
“I felt everything drained from me,” Armstrong said. He added that he reached a point where he told himself he couldn’t repeat that cycle, describing a sense that he was coming apart “at the seams.”
Rydby and Armstrong have both since left Rocksteady and moved on to pursue projects they hope will restore their creative drive. Most recently, they launched a Kickstarter for their new RPG deckbuilder, Secret of Circadia, and are aiming to raise $11,000 from backers to help bring the project to life.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was widely viewed as a major downturn for Rocksteady after the studio’s well-loved Arkham run, but the developers’ comments also frame the situation as a warning about the kind of game direction that can clash with a studio’s strengths. It’s not clear what Rocksteady is working on right now, though rumors suggest its next step may involve returning to Batman.
One complication for any future comparison to the Arkham era is that many of the key creators responsible for shaping that series have already moved on from the studio. Rocksteady still has a pool of talented staff, but the next release will almost certainly feel different from a game like Arkham Knight, given how much the team has changed.
Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN’s news team. He covers all things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.
