Warner Bros. Games and developer Rocksteady Studios have officially delayed Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League to February 2, 2024. This is a major delay, as the game was previously slated to launch on May 26, 2023. The developers offered a vague, boilerplate reasoning for the delay, saying, “We have made the tough but necessary decision to take the time needed to work on getting the game to be the best quality experience for players.” That is indeed the reason that most video games get delayed.
— Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League (@suicidesquadRS) April 13, 2023
For those who have been paying attention though, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League getting delayed in a big way isn’t actually surprising. Bloomberg already reported last month that the game had been internally delayed indefinitely, apparently as a result of harsh backlash the game faced from its showing at the February 2023 PlayStation State of Play. Many felt that Kill the Justice League just looked like any other live-service game, with characters whose animations did not even seem to reflect their distinct personalities. The fact that one of the game designers literally summarized the gameplay as being about watching numbers go up on your gear didn’t help things.
However, even with a delay to February 2024, it will not be possible for Rocksteady to just redesign Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League to ditch its live-service elements entirely. Rather, this will be time for the developers to just polish what they have and hopefully make a game that at least looks… fun.