Time Warner has confirmed that Warner Bros. Interactive will release a new game in the Batman Arkham franchise sometime this year. The company’s CFO, John Martin, made the proclamation during their fourth quarter earnings call last week, saying:
“…we also have a strong games release this year, which will include the next release in the Batman Arkham franchise. So all in all, we expect Warners to post another very strong year in 2013. And with a little luck, the year should be as good or maybe even a little bit better than 2012.”
No details about the upcoming Batman Arkham game were announced during the call, so at this point we can only guess as to how the franchise will proceed after the events in Arkham City. If the series stays on its current trajectory we are assuming that the next game will be subtitled Arkham County (or Parish if the intend to appeal to Louisiana gamers).
Regardless of the actual geographical area this next Batman Arkham game covers, there are some concerns that is being developed by someone other than Rocksteady — the studio behind Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City.
Last year Variety reported that the next game from Rocksteady would take place during the Caped Crusader’s “Silver Age” timeline — in other words, 1950’s style Batman and not related to the Arkham games. Somewhat backing up that rumor was a confirmation from the writer of the Batman Arkham series, Paul Dini, who stated that he was not writing a third game in the franchise. Dini later indicated that he would like to work another game, however, it was “not [his] call”.
Based on Time Warner’s statements during the earnings call, there is clearly a third Batman Arkham game is in the works — we just don’t know exactly who is developing it, or who has penned its story.
Let us know your expectations for a third Batman Arkham game in the comments below, and feel free to weigh in on the Silver Age Batman rumor. We will let you know as soon as Warner Bros. Interactive announces any official details for the upcoming game.
