Remember that terrible ‘Suicide Squad’ game? It just ended in the most embarrassing way possible

2024 was a mixed bag for gaming. Sure, we got Balatro, Astro Bot, and Shadow of the Erdtree, but we also saw the industry trip over its own feet when it came to chasing trends. Specifically, the “live service” model proved a poisoned chalice, with Sony’s monster flop Concord removed from sale and nobody caring about the financial black hole that was Ubisoft’s XDefiant.

But among these, there’s no sadder story than Rocksteady Games’ Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. This online-only co-op shooter was not just the long-awaited continuation of the beloved Arkham games, but boasted one of the final performances from beloved Batman voice actor Kevin Conroy. Unfortunately for everyone involved, gamers simply weren’t interested in this nickel-and-diming cosmetics-heavy experience.

The launch was bedeviled by technical issues that left many unable to play the game at all, though in retrospect, this was a high point, as it was the last time people wanted to play it. Player numbers promptly plummeted (Steam figures indicate there were often less than a hundred people active), the price of the Deluxe Edition was slashed by 95%, and the game ended up being given away for free in a last-ditch effort to find players.

Now, Suicide Squad has crawled to its humiliating conclusion. The original plan was for the story to continue beyond the credits across “seasons,” theoretically keeping players engaged with an ongoing story. With their budget slashed, the developers were forced to do what they could with limited resources. And so I present to you the final cutscene of the bombastic triple-A blockbuster superhero game from the people who brought you Arkham Knight (get those sad trombones at the ready!):

Yup, the game’s finale is a barely animated motion comic narrated by Tara Strong’s Harley Quinn that wraps things up in a manner that can only be described as “technically fulfilling contractual obligations.” Considering that one of the few praised aspects of the game was its brilliantly animated and detailed cutscenes, having to squirt this out must be intensely humiliating for Rocksteady Games.

Any silver linings? Well, at least we know that the Arkham Batman is still alive. But the revelation that in Kill the Justice League, we didn’t kill the Justice League, which renders the entire narrative moot. If we were to grasp at straws, maybe this ending vaguely opens the door to a future Arkham Knight sequel, but whether Rocksteady Games survives this farce to develop it is another matter altogether.

All of which goes to show that the video games industry is a cruel mistress. Before Suicide Squad, Rocksteady Games was an enormously respected top-tier developer. Now, having tried and failed to take a bite out of the live service microtransactions pie, they’re forced to release a cutscene that wouldn’t have looked out of place on Newgrounds and are struggling to keep their heads above water. Oh well, at least player numbers are so abysmal that relatively few people will ever see this.

And as for a moral? Let’s go back to the classics: pride comes before a fall. Oh, and maybe don’t make megabudget, live-service looter-shooter microtransaction video games.