Batman: Arkham Knight Release Delayed Until 2015

[John Keefer]

Batman: Arkham Knight Release Delayed Until 2015

Another AAA title, another delay. This time, Batman won't be knocking around thugs until 2015.

Remember when we told you [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/132651-Batman-Arkham-Knight-Set-for-2014-Release-on-PS4-Xbox-One-PC] that Batman: Arkham Knight was going to be coming this year? Well, Warner Bros and Rocksteady Studios has made a liar out of us, since they have delayed the game until some time next year.

"We just want to make the best experience we possibly can and we need more time to do that," said Guy Perkins of Rocksteady. "I think what we've shown so far is a super ambitious project and we just want to make sure we are giving Batman fans and gamers the best Batman experience that we can possibly deliver and that just takes time. I think we would be doing fans a disservice if we didn't spend the time on the title."

Could the delay have anything to do with the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 offering unexpected problems for a development team? Perkins said that pitfalls are part of the planning.

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"I think it's just a case of we just want it to be really great," he said. "There are challenges inherent with moving across these new platforms but we always envisioned the game on that new hardware."

As for any hope of seeing the game on the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, Perkins said that next-gen is needed for what they have planned. "We realized that this is a super ambitious project," he said. "We're introducing a game world that's five times larger than what we've done before at a level of insane detail that we've always had in our games and blowing that out even more. We've got whole new lighting and water models. We've got super high-detailed character models. All of that stuff, it needs optimizing. It needs to work as well as it can do to put it all together into this amazing experience that we're pushing for. It just takes time."

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And for those that weren't aware, the Arkham Knight in the title does not refer to Batman [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/132654-Batman-Arkham-Knights-Titular-Knight-Is-Not-Actually-Batman], but some new villain that RockSteady and DC are cooking up for the game. Scarecrow, Two-Face, Penguin, and Harley Quinn are already confirmed for the game as well.

Find out the latest on what Rocksteady has planned in Greg's new preview [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/conferences/e32014/11553-Batman-Arkham-Knight-Preview] from the pre-E3 event. And know you'll just have to wait that much longer to try it out on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.

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[Roxas1359]

After how buggy Arkham Origins was when it launched, I don't mind if Arkham Knight gets delayed. I say give Rocksteady as much time as they need, just as long as Arkham Knight doesn't end up like The Last Guardian or Final Fantasy XV... >.>

 

[Hawkeye21]

"We just want to make the best experience we possibly can and we need more time to do that"

Translation: "We need time to make the game look as shitty as possible, so already outdated PS4 and XBONE hardware can have a chance to run it at measly 30 frames per second. Also we are going to spend a lot of time and money on PR and bullshots to create hype we ultimately can't possibly live up to."

 

[StarStruckStrumpets]

"We just want to make the best experience we possibly can and we need more time to do that"

Translation: "We need time to make the game look as shitty as possible, so already outdated PS4 and XBONE hardware can have a chance to run it at measly 30 frames per second. Also we are going to spend a lot of time and money on PR and bullshots to create hype we ultimately can't possibly live up to."

There's always one...

OT: Are any games coming out this year? Seems like everything I wanted to play has been delayed.

That said, I only played the first Arkham game, so this doesn't bother me all that much.

 

[AndrewC]

Well this is a crappy report to hear, was super stoked for it

I shall be keeping my PC pre-order for sure though.

 

[CriticalMiss]

OT: Are any games coming out this year? Seems like everything I wanted to play has been delayed.

Since so many high profile games are getting pushed in to the next year I can't wait to see what wins Game of the Year. Plus it'll be a hotly contested title in 2015 (unless all of these games get delayed until 2016).

I get the feeling that one reason they took longer to make this game is that they needed to scrape through all the obscure Batman lore to find stuff to cram in all the dark corners of the map. Unless they include air space and we get to play with the Batwing as well as the Batwheels.

 

[Mike Hoffman]

After how buggy Arkham Origins was when it launched, I don't mind if Arkham Knight gets delayed. I say give Rocksteady as much time as they need, just as long as Arkham Knight doesn't end up like The Last Guardian or Final Fantasy XV... >.>

Keep in mind Origins was developed by WB Games. Rocksteady, the team behind Asylum and City, did some consulting on Origins, but bugs were not on them. I expect the quality will be closer to what we would expect after the first two games, especially if WB Interactive Entertainment is giving them the extra time when this fall is a pretty big opportunity as there aren't as many big next-gen titles now as there will be later.

 

[RJ 17]

Well my October just got $60 cheaper. Between this game, Dragon Age Inquisition, and Alien Isolation it was looking to be a damn expensive month. I hate delays for games I'm looking forward to as much as anyone, but considering the context I'm...kinda ok with this.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

I can't say that I'm surprised. In fact I kind of expected it. Or maybe I was just hoping for it. I need to upgrade my gaming rig for this and The Witcher 3.

 

[Roxas1359]

After how buggy Arkham Origins was when it launched, I don't mind if Arkham Knight gets delayed. I say give Rocksteady as much time as they need, just as long as Arkham Knight doesn't end up like The Last Guardian or Final Fantasy XV... >.>

Keep in mind Origins was developed by WB Games. Rocksteady, the team behind Asylum and City, did some consulting on Origins, but bugs were not on them. I expect the quality will be closer to what we would expect after the first two games, especially if WB Interactive Entertainment is giving them the extra time when this fall is a pretty big opportunity as there aren't as many big next-gen titles now as there will be later.

Oh I know WB Interactive were behind Origins, not Rocksteady. I was more concerned though since publishers in the past have been known to push the release date for games to having them release way earlier than they should have. Especially when the publisher is related to a big Hollywood studio. Some notorious examples would be what Universal Interactive (Vivendi Games later) did with Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly by having the release date pushed forward by a year.

 

[LazyAza]

Well this isn't surprising, first two games were delayed 3 or 4 times each. But eh, the end result was two of the best video games I've ever played in my life and I can only assume the same benefit will come with this one.

Downside is now I don't have a reason to get a PS4 this year still. bah

 

[Mike Hoffman]

Oh I know WB Interactive were behind Origins, not Rocksteady. I was more concerned though since publishers in the past have been known to push the release date for games to having them release way earlier than they should have. Especially when the publisher is related to a big Hollywood studio. Some notorious examples would be what Universal Interactive (Vivendi Games later) did with Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly by having the release date pushed forward by a year.

Absolutely. I thought you may have been aware of that. And yeah, I heard Guy Perkins (the rep quoted in the article) state somewhere else how supportive WB is about this delay, which is good to hear. I do hope that DA:I doesn't get delayed now, because that would be all my fall purchases and my PS4 motivation gone.

 

[Trishbot]

After how buggy Arkham Origins was when it launched, I don't mind if Arkham Knight gets delayed. I say give Rocksteady as much time as they need, just as long as Arkham Knight doesn't end up like The Last Guardian or Final Fantasy XV... >.>

... Half-Life 3, Beyond Good & Evil 2, Shenmue III, StarCraft: Ghost....

Sometimes, being a gamer means leveling up in Patience.

 

[Osaka117]

I may be saddened by this news, but my bank account feels really relieved since now I don't have to buy a next gen (or CURRENT gen whatever you know what I mean) console this year.

 

[Liquidprid3]

I'm am literally unsurprised by delays anymore. That's at least 20 delays in the past month. It's getting old.

Seriously, what the fuck. They delayed Watch_Dogs so it could be more polished. It wasn't. It hasn't really worked for anyone so far.

 

[4173]

Whelp, Christmas in cancelled I guess.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

It's almost as if the industry agrees with me for not buying a current-gen console anytime soon.

 

[schrodinger]

2014: the year of delays.

It's fine if they're pushing back the date to have more time to complete the game, but sometimes it seems developers have no confidence in their games.

 

[Callate]

Ah, for pity's sake; they only just barely got the announcements that Arkham Knight was going to be a thing out the door.

Maybe companies should stop assuming that "first reveal" always has to come with a release date in the first place. It's not like it's doing anyone any favors if they can't hold to those dates anyway.

 

[EndlessSporadic]

I trust Rocksteady enough to not care about a delayed release because I genuinely believe they will use that extended time wisely instead of fixing old bugs.