Five years ago supposedly marked the end of the highly popular trilogy ofBatmangames developed by Rocksteady Games.Arkham Knight, released in 2015, was the final game developed by the studio before they moved on to an unannounced project. But, with the massive success of theBatman Arkhamseries, Warner Bros. has tasked its in-houseArkham Originsdeveloper to work on a secret new entry in the series. After a little over four years, WB Games Montreal finally teased the new game back in January.
Since then, WB Games has remained tight-lipped about the game’s existence, only leaving fans with the cryptic symbols of iconic organizations in theBatmancomic universe. Then rumors started flying around that the newBatman: Arkhamgame was on track to show at E3 before the entire trade show was cancelled. While fans have gotten some communication about what’s next for theArkhamseries, it hasn’t been great news. The nextArkhamgame may be further away than fans expected.
Where’s Batman?
AfterArkham Knight, the very popularBatmangame series has laid dormant for years. Even though the originalArkhamseries developerRocksteady Games has moved on to a new project, Warner Bros. has been keen on continuing the franchise further, and like any other developer, WB Games Montreal stayed silent during the development process. But, unlike previousArkhamreleases, time started to march on even longer than in previous years. Ever sinceArkham Asylum’s initial launch in 2009, there had never been more than three years between each sequel.
But as the months and years marched on, there’d only been little tidbits of info from rumors about the nextArkhamgame. At first, there were rumors about a potentialSuicide Squadco-op game being made by WB Games, though it was confirmed that the title was cancelled. There were even somerumors about aJustice Leaguegame in developmentby Rocksteady Games as well, though none of these details were confirmed. Many figured that since Rocksteady Games was moving on to something new, that WB Games would move on to a new project as well. But at the end of 2019, eventually those rumors turned into a newBatmangame being developed by WB Games entitledArkham Legacy.
Legacy, Court of Owls, and More Rumors
Four years afterArkham Knight’s release in September of 2019, WB Games Montreal teased several cryptic sigils spliced within a video of the bat-symbol being shown on an IRL building. Then in January of this year, WB Games once again teased another a sigil, one reminiscent of law enforcement or family crest. Many looked to that tease as a reference to the many organizations part of the Court of Owls, a secret Illuminati-style organization in theBatmanuniverse.Court of Owls was another popular rumor forArkham Legacyflying around the internet, that only became more popular with WB Games' teases.
Obviously from there fans tried to piece the sigils together and make sense of the tease, and how it potentially relates to the Court of Owls. Many assumed that WB Games had a drip feed marketing plan that would continue to drop more hints as the year went on. After January, WB Games Montreal returned to its deafening silence once more. A rumor in March stated thatWarner Bros. had an E3 press conference prepared for the reveal of the game, prior to E3’s cancellation. Much to fans' dismay, there wouldn’t be another word about the teases or rumors until this month.
And the biggest issue here is none of these are solid. The teases obviously indicate something, but everything else is in the air entirely. Recent rumors, for example, indicate the game is dropping theArkhammoniker and will serve as a reboot.
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In the Shadows, For Now
This is where the disappointment begins, as WB Games finally (vaguely) commented on the leaks and teases for its next game. Despite rumors that a reveal was coming soon,WB Games Montreal took to Twittera few days ago to mention that it wouldn’t be commenting on its next project anytime soon. Granted the tweet doesn’t outright state the game isn’t going to be revealed or coming out anytime soon, but it does make sense considering how much has been officially teased about the game. Other than the teased sigils, there hasn’t been any other concrete information about the game.
If the nextArkhamgame truly were coming out soon or even this year, fans would likely already know about it. As mentioned previously, this has been the longest amount of time betweenArkhamgames. WB Games has worked on anArkhamgame before, so it’s not likely a newBatmanproject is an ambitious one for them. Unlessthe game is a full-onArkhamreboot like some rumors have suggested, WB Games would’ve teased a lot more than just a few symbols.
Even if the game does receive a trailer at Summer Game Fest, despite Geoff Keighley refuting the rumor for recent event at least, the game likely isn’t far enough along to show any gameplay and wouldn’t release in 2020. IfArkham Legacy, or whatever the nextBatmangame is called were truly coming out this year, there’d be a lot more official info about the game shown by now.
There’s a very real possibility fans could get more info about the nextBatmangame in 2020, but it wouldn’t amount to more than another tease. Development can’t possibly be far enough long if all that’s been officially shown so far are symbols. Pair that with conflicting rumors all around, and it just doesn’t seem like the nextArkhamis coming soon.
