Rocksteady’s Rollercoaster Year Concludes with Workforce Reductions
Revealed by Rocksteady/WB Games/DC.
Eurogamer reports that Rocksteady discreetly terminated employees as 2024 approaches. This marked the second known wave of layoffs after the launch of its cooperative shooter Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
Anonymous developers affected by the layoffs indicated that departments such as art and programming were heavily impacted. The QA team was also affected, having previously experienced the most significant cuts back in September.
Suicide Squad’s tumultuous journey
Suicide Squad encountered a troubled development and a tepid response from critics and players. Shortly after its debut, WB Games announced that the game had fallen short commercially, prompting Rocksteady to begin layoffs while completing the game’s Year One plan.
As 2024 unfolded, Rocksteady announced it would be ending support for Suicide Squad following next Tuesday, January 14. The game’s final major update introduced an offline mode, allowing it to be played in the future.
Not long after that announcement, it was revealed that WB Games Montreal laid off 99 developers. This studio, which previously developed 2022’s Gotham Knights, provided support work on Squad.
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Contributing Editor, GameDeveloper.com
Hailing from Kansas City, MO, Justin Carter has contributed to a wide array of websites including IGN, Polygon, and SyFy Wire. Besides his work at Game Developer, his writings can also be found at io9 on Gizmodo. Don’t ask him about how much gum he’s chewing, as the answer may be more than he’s willing to confess.