After eight years following the release of Batman: Arkham Knight, many in the video game community were waiting for what developer Rocksteady was going to do next. Unfortunately, many did not enjoy the direction that was taken for Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League, which led to a rough Early Access launch and a vast drop in player count as the game continues to get updated. Warner Bros. Discovery even noted of the low returns from the game following its release. As it seems so common nowadays in the video game industry, this has lead to layoffs at Rocksteady.
Rocksteady staff told Eurogamer of the redundancies at the studio. The QA department was hit hard with its size almost cut in half over the past month, from 33 team members down to 15. Poor sales of Suicide Squad were directly cited as a reason for the restructuring.
Members of Rocksteady’s staff told Eurogamer that the loss of so many roles in the developer’s QA department means there would be more work for their remaining colleagues. Senior management acknowledged that the product quality will suffer now as a result of the layoffs.
The layoffs extend beyond the QA department. One staff member posted publically on social media over the weekend that they were told they were being made redundant in the middle of their paternity leave.
The cuts include numerous junior staff and several team members who have been employed at Rocksteady for more than five years.