Suicide squad
Solid as a rock
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League comes out in a few weeks, but yesterday caused a stir where a group of journalists and influencers revealed their impressions of a few hours of gameplay. The influencers liked it more than the journalists, but the general atmosphere was mixed, even… not great.
But in reality, this is part of a long, long line of marketing mistakes made by Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, whether Rocksteady or Warner Bros. the call is not clear. The game may have been compelling with its live co-op concept, a huge departure from the Arkham games, but it failed to sell well at all with some truly confusing marketing decisions. Let’s summarize:
- In February 2023, Suicide Squad was part of PlayStation’s State of Play presentation and had a full 15 minutes to show off its concept and execution. Instead, the footage was widely vilified (which you can see through the underwater likes/dislikes on the trailer so far) and soon after, the game was delayed a full nine months between spring 2023 and winter 2024 where we are now, though. they claimed it was not related to the reaction to the preview.
- Since then, things have been relatively barren until a few features on various aspects of the game, from its supporting cast to its combat. These were received less negatively and more mixed but…again, more dislikes than likes, and the general buzz around the game hasn’t improved, and I imagine it won’t improve when a new game talking about its live service aspects will debut soon.
- Then things get a little strange. Rocksteady launched a closed alpha for Suicide Squad in late November, just over two months before launch. The whole thing was under NDA for everyone who participated, but the kinds of leaks that emerged from the gaming session were… mostly positive. That many players enjoyed the game more than they expected. However, what seemed like something that could have ultimately changed the conversation has been left to fester, as all of these players remain under NDAs and can’t share publicly, in detail, why they liked the game. And it doesn’t seem to be happening. have plans for a public beta to allow potential players to familiarize themselves with the gameplay.
- Now we have this preview event in Los Angeles. This is a rarity in that you don’t usually see as many mixed to bad reactions to events like this, as they are pretty well designed to show off what society considers to be some of the best parts of a game. While big YouTubers seemed to love the game more than journalists, the headlines weren’t all great. Some of those less impressed with the game, like IGN’s Destin Legarie, also reported that there were some pretty significant technical issues with how the event played out, and that it was generally too short for a game of this nature.
Well, we’re almost at launch. Once again, there’s supposed to be another “Live” video, this time talking about the live service elements of the game, something most people will be predisposed to dislike from the start. It’s bizarre that the main positive press the game has received has come from closed alpha leaks that can’t be widely shared due to a strict NDA. And while the game’s bouncy combat and cluttered UI play better in person, they didn’t do any sort of open beta to prove that this was actually going to be fun.
I’m not going to prejudge Suicide Squad until I get to play it myself, but even though the basic concept was always going to be a tough sell, Warner Bros. did a terrible job selling it for most of the year. NOW.
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