Gotham Knights, a Batman action RPG set to be WB Games Montreal’s first title in years, has officially been delayed beyond 2021. The decision was announced on March 19 and vague on details, promising mainly that WB is “giving the game more time to deliver the best possible experience for players.” So when can those eagerly awaiting Gotham Knights‘ arrival realistically expect it now?
The game was first unveiled during the summer 2020 DC FanDome event, and instead of Batman, concentrates on four or more allies taking up his mantle (following his supposed death): Batgirl, Robin, Red Hood, and Nightwing. Characters such as Alfred Pennyworth have also been confirmed for Gotham Knights. Their primary opponents will be the Court of Owls, a secret society dating back to Gotham’s colonial era, which uses trained assassins to further its agenda. Gamers play solo when they’re offline, but can add a partner when they go online, offering some flexibility.
The only other details on the delay come from the official Gotham Knights Twitter account, in which WB says the game will “launch worldwide in 2022,” without mentioning an exact day or even quarter. The company does say it plans to showcase more content “in the coming months,” which could mean occasional media drops and/or a deeper look during upcoming game conferences like PAX or E3. No major conference is scheduled until June, in part because the COVID-19 pandemic is preventing in-person events.
Why Is Gotham Knights Delayed?
The need to drum up publicity combined with pandemic-related production obstacles suggests the game won’t ship until the second half of 2022. This could also give it a boost from holiday shoppers and allow more people to get their hands on a PS5 or Xbox Series X/S – while the game will technically be compatible with the PS4 and Xbox One (as well as PC), the latter consoles have struggled to keep up with demands of modern games.
Indeed there’s a strong possibility that the Gotham Knights delay is connected to next-gen updates. Since the PS5 and Series X shipped, game upgrades have been trickling out weeks or months later, leaving people to play mostly unoptimized catalogs while they wait. At some stage WB may have decided it wasn’t worth rushing a game that wouldn’t take advantage of new hardware, especially for something with the potential to be a blockbuster. WB Montreal is best known for Batman: Arkham Origins, usually considered the black sheep of the Arkham games. The studio was also at one point known to be working on a Suicide Squad game, though that’s since canceled.
