Rocksteady Studios, the acclaimed developers behind the popular Batman: Arkham video game series, were forced to abruptly take their highly anticipated new game Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League offline on Monday due to a major glitch.
The new third-person shooter game allows players to control DC comics antiheroes Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Captain Boomerang and King Shark. The plot follows the four villains as they embark on a mission to save the world by taking down the Justice League, who have been brainwashed by an unknown force.
The game was slated for an early access release on January 30, allowing those who pre-ordered to get a head start before the official launch on February 2. However, shortly after servers went live on Monday, players encountered a bizarre glitch that instantly unlocked the entire storyline quest upon logging in for the first time.
This allowed gamers to immediately “have full story completion” without actually playing through any of the game’s content. Essentially, a flaw in the game’s servers erroneously marked save profiles as 100% finished right out of the gate.
After investigating the issue for several hours, Rocksteady confirmed they had identified the specific problem affecting player profile status. They indicated that a fix was being tested, with the goal of getting Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League back online as soon as possible.
As of Monday evening, the game’s servers remained down as maintenance and troubleshooting continued. Rocksteady has not given an estimate for when the game may return or if any progress made during the glitched early access period will carry over after the fix.
This is a blow for both the developers and eager fans who have long awaited Suicide Squad as Rocksteady’s first major release since 2015’s Batman: Arkham Knight. The timing is especially problematic with the standard edition retail launch set for February 2.
But the bizarre nature of the glitch has also piqued amusement, with clips spreading online showing players instantly unlocking achievements and credit rolls simply for starting up the game.
This mishap illustrates the risks and complexities involved with major online multiplayer titles, where millions of lines of server code must seamlessly sync with individual player profiles and progression. When it works, it’s magical, but one hiccup can instantly break the illusion.
Hopefully Rocksteady can swiftly resolve the issues so fans can actually dive into the gameplay, reviews and word of mouth that will ultimately determine whether Suicide Squad lives up to the Batman: Arkham legacy. But this rocky launch has undoubtedly tarnished some of the hype and anticipation.
