Fans angry over potential Suicide Squad leak

A leak for the upcoming Suicide Squad game has angered fans over seemingly hostile game design, but an insider says it’s not as bad as it looks.

The last few days has seen gamers outraged on social media after a leaked screenshot of the upcoming Suicide Squad game seemingly confirmed it would use a number of “hostile” game design practices.

The screenshot originated on 4chan, and was said to be from a recent test build of the game. It showed a number of menus reportedly planned for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which is currently in development by Arkham series developer Rocksteady.

The menus in question showed a number of different in-game currencies held by the player, which some have said is reminiscent of predatory mobile games. It also showed that the game would have a battle pass, which is a premium set of challenges that can unlock cosmetics and other in-game perks, and is typically seen in free-to-play games like Fortnite and Call of Duty: Warzone.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League features fan-favourite characters like Captain Boomerang and Harley Quinn. Picture: WB Games

According to VGC, however, these features of the game aren’t quite as bad as they look at first glance. An anonymous developer reportedly told the outlet that the battle pass will be entirely focused on in-game cosmetics, with no ‘pay-to-win’ mechanics.

The in-game currencies were also said to be a type of experience system for each of the game’s four playable characters, which can be used to power up said characters and learn new skills.

The anonymous developer reportedly told VGC that players won’t “start off debuffed and weak”, but that players will start off strong and be able to “get ridiculous” by spending experience points.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is said to be a multiplayer action adventure game that will see players teaming up as members of the titular Suicide Squad, a team of supervillains that has generally been considered to be somewhat of an antihero group.

The game will show superheroes such as Superman, Batman, and The Flash, who are normally forces for good in DC Comics media, as corrupted villains, with the Suicide Squad tasked with taking them down and saving the planet.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is set in the Batman Arkham universe. Picture: WB Games

The game’s May 26 release date was revealed in a bittersweet tribute of a trailer at The Game Awards last year, which also revealed that the late Kevin Conroy would be voicing Batman. Conroy lost his life to cancer in November last year, after having voiced Batman for over 30 years.

The Game Awards also saw Final Fantasy 16 given a release date, and it’s coming sooner than anyone expected. While many expected the game would be released in the second half of the year, publisher Square Enix instead dated the new Final Fantasy game for June.

Written by Oliver Brandt on behalf of GLHF.