WB Montreal finally unveiled its long-rumored (and long-teased) title, Gotham Knights, and it wasn’t just a typical Batman game. Instead, it was a co-op adventure with four playable characters within the Bat family that looked decidedly more RPG than any of the Arkham games. Given the focus on co-op and RPG mechanics, it appeared as though it would be a games-as-a-service game, but according to WB Montreal, it won’t be.
Creative Director Patrick Redding and Senior Producer Fleur Marty explained this in a recent interview with IGN. When prompted, Marty described how that wasn’t the case.
“This is very much not [emphasis in original text] designed as a game-as-service,” he stated bluntly. “There is an ability tree, which is different for each of the characters, and then there’s gear that you craft — and so choices that you’re going to be making — but that does not mean that this is a game-as-service.”
It appears as though Gotham Knights will be a cooperative experience with optional solo play, but will be finite and not have constant rounds of multiple updates like other service games (without level-gating, too). That wasn’t exactly clear, given the aforementioned co-op and leveling and how it was bundled with the announcement of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, a title that gives off strong vibes that it will be a service title. Rocksteady has not said either way, but alleged marketing emails give some credence to that idea.
But this doesn’t mean that Gotham Knights won’t expand. Both Redding and Marty had cryptic answers when asked if the game’s universe will have more stories to tell.
“Yes. But I won’t say more than that,” stated Redding. Marty then followed with the equally vague statement that “[Gotham Knights] is all about growth” and that there is also “room for growth.”
It is unclear what this means. Does it mean that there will be some DLC? Or does it mean that this is a new universe with a new canon for future games, as it is not connected to the previous Arkham series? Both seem likely, but we will have to wait until 2021 to find out.
