Only a week into 2025, a fresh report suggests that the developers of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Rocksteady, known previously for their acclaimed Batman Arkham titles, experienced yet another round of layoffs right at the end of last year.
This information comes from Eurogamer, which reports that around six developers were affected by these cuts at Rocksteady. The parent company, Warner Bros., has yet to respond to the outlet’s inquiry for comments. This latest reduction follows a previous wave of layoffs that severely impacted the studio’s QA department.
The size of the latest layoffs, reportedly occurring just before the start of 2024, remains uncertain. I have also sought comments from WB. According to Eurogamer, both programming and artistic teams were affected, along with additional reductions to the QA team, which had already been reduced to just 15 individuals following earlier cutbacks.
These layoffs follow the considerable losses suffered from the development and failure of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which turned out to be one of the more significant live-service disappointments of 2024, analogous to the notable case of Redfall, where a single-player gem was pushed into an awkward live-service framework with disastrous results. Warner Bros reported losses of about $200 million on the game, yet still aims to concentrate on free-to-play and live-service games. The final season and episode of the game are set to launch this month, according to a developer update shared last year.
It almost goes without saying that this is simply the latest in a shocking series of layoffs within the gaming industry dating back to 2024, a year that saw companies at all stages of development and publishing reducing workforce sizes and cutting investments, from large corporations like Microsoft to countless independent studios struggling to make ends meet.