The recent high-profile delay of Rocksteady Studios’Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leagueserves to reopen an important discussion regarding the release of AAA games and the difficulties faced by developers and publishers in delaying a project. Delays are rarely implemented to completely rework a game that has finished the lion’s share of its development and are instead often decided on as a last-minute measure to deliver a product more indicative of the development team’s original vision. As the saying goes, it’s not possible to “un-bake a cake”, but Rocksteady Studios can still strive to deliver the best possible version ofSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leagueto fans who were looking forward to the title.
With the planned May release date forSuicide Squadnow pushed back to February 2024, fans have cause to hope for the game being improved upon from the version shown during the February 2023 Sony State of Play broadcast. The delay ofSuicide Squadalso serves to highlight a dichotomy between itself and another May release:Redfall. Arkane Studios' vampire-themed looter shooterRedfallhas also generated controversyin recent reveals and updates surrounding the game. WithRedfallbeing mere weeks away from release, it seems as if the title may have benefited from a calculated delay likeSuicide Squadinstead of proceeding with a May 2 launch.
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The announcement that Rocksteady Studios was working onSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leagueback in August 2020 generated plenty of excitement and anticipation from fans who were eager to return to a version of the DC universe crafted by the studio behind the excellentBatman:Arkhamtrilogy. However, further details revealed about the game somewhat tempered fans' expectations through the reveal that the title would be a live-service action game rather than the linear, single-player focused experience the studio was known for. While the delay ofSuicide Squadis almost surely not going to change the core gameplay, it may help the title reach the level of quality that has become synonymous with Rocksteady.
One of the primarylessons to be learned fromSuicide Squad’s delayis the importance of developers and publishers respecting their fans, as well as fans' money and time. Delaying a game is not an easy decision for a developer to make. A myriad of factors determines the release window of a game and those same factors are disrupted by a potential delay. In addition to ensuring that the game will be representative of the studio’s pedigree,Suicide Squad’s delay sets a precedent for other developers to follow in not releasing unfinished and sub-par games.
Disappointment Surrounding Redfall Could Have Been Avoided With a Delay
Despite an enticing premise and a talented studio behind its development,Redfallhas had the cards stacked against it for quite some time now. Fans were already unsure about howArkane Studios' talentat developing single-player immersive sims would translate to a live-service looter-shooter, and now it has been revealed that the game will only launch with a quality mode. This effectively locks the performance ofRedfallat 30 FPS until Arkane patches in a performance mode after launch. It’s not exactly a vote of confidence forRedfall’s ability to grab and maintain an audience as a first-person shooter with a diminished frame rate.
Fans have already made the call for Arkane and Microsoft to delay the game, but in all likelihoodRedfallwill still meet its May 2 release date. That said,the delay ofSuicide Squadcounters the argument thatRedfallcouldn’t have been delayed for last-minute polish since both games were launching mere weeks apart. It is a distinct possibility thatSuicide Squad’s delay may save the longevity of that live-service title, while rushingRedfallto its May 2 release could doom it in the long-run.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leagueis coming out on July 02, 2025, for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.
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