Eidos not involved in Batman sequel, Arkham Asylum has 'almost run its course'

by Alexander Sliwinski on Dec 15th 2009 11:30AM

Noting that publisher Eidos' name was missing from the Batman: Arkham Asylum sequel's teaser trailer, we contacted Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment yesterday to ask if Eidos (Square Enix Europe) was involved with the game. A company representative informed Joystiq, "WBIE is publishing. Eidos is not involved. We are not disclosing any additional information at this time." In addition, our request to learn the sequel's actual name was not granted.

Meanwhile, in an interview with PC Zone magazine (via CVG), Rocksteady Senior Gameplay Programmer Paul Denning stated that the Arkham Asylum angle for Batman has "almost run its course." He elaborated, "Gotham itself is a fantastically realized fictional city and there are so many places that would be probably be ideal for gameplay and great to explore." But don't expect Grand Theft Gotham just yet, as Denning notes that "you have to be so careful when you take that route." Especially because of all the carjackings.

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Tags: batman, batman-arkham-asylum, batman-arkham-city, eidos, paul-denning, rocksteady, rocksteady-studios, square-enix-europe, wbie

Reader Comments (44)

I am a little sceptical of a Arkham Asylum 2. I was expecting the next game to take place somewhere else but the first was a great game so let's see what happens....

Arkham has moved...

Looks to me from the trailer like the setting is moving outside Arkham itself. Seemed like madness on the city streets to me.

Yea, the trailer shows you're actually in Gotham City.

But if they want to keep the same isolation aspect with an asylum, go for Blackgate Penitentiary. It housed MANY of the Batman villains, mostly the sane ones, and Bruce Wayne was imprisoned there at one point, which Rocksteady can use that as a Scarecrow-induced, pants-shitter scenario.

Imagine actually fighting intelligent criminals constantly, rather than the muscle milk drinking henchmen that didn't do much of a damn thing rather than attempt to fight you. Clayface, Penguin, Catwoman, Two-Face...those are iconic Batman villains that made cameos in AA, were imprisoned at one point in Blackgate, and are more of the smarter bunch of villains Batman has to face throughout his career.

It writes itself...

wasnt blackgate (or is it blackrock?) torched and shut down in the first game? which is why most of jokers henchmen had to move to arkham

You know, I didn't even catch that in the story if they did say that. If that's the case, well, consider my well-wished scenario screwed.

As long as its that semi-sandbox that retains amazing graphics im happy to move from Arkham into Gotham.

mmmm now im skeptical about this game....since Eidos is not involved I guess they just wanna milk this game with a sequel. Let's see how it goes.

also, it seems like they are rushing this. The first one is not even 4 months old and there is a teaser trailer for a sequel already? are they serious?

they should take their time, people are not going to forget about bat-man.

What the hell are you talking about? Eidos just puts the discs and the manual into the freaking box. (If you are about to reply to this comment with "well, actually, copa, marketing and distribution are a lot more complex than that", go fuck yourself)

Rocksteady actually makes the game, which is what we care about.

TIME FOR A BOYCOTT! SIGN MA PETITION!

Devs work on a budget. They get paid to make shit by the publishers. In this case, Eidos.

Differently publishers have different standards, deadlines, bank, etc.

So yes, the publisher is important. If the next publisher only throws half the budget behind it (saying just reuse old resources) and wants a quicker development cycle (to release yearly) - Regardless of who the devs are, the game will go to shit.

So no, they don't just make the box, disc, and manual. Dick. Read into it sometime.

yet theres another side to your coin punk, so i dont think you should be reconsidering the game based solely on eidos dropping out. what if the new publisher doubles what eidos did first because they know they have a great product?

I'm with copa. You may be right, Punkrawk, but "go fuck yourself" trumps logic.

Never said that this was a kiss of death. Or even implied it. Just informing Copa that he's an idiot if he thinks publishers just do marketing. Publishers could be just as important as the devs, not just through funding but by managing and keeping the devs on track. Let devs run rampant and you'll end up with such abstract gaming shit that no one wants to buy, but the devs love to make. Someone needs to keep them in check.

@Punk:
If the Devs proved anything with Arkham Asylum... it's that they can make an incredible game... with that in mind, i'm sure they are smart enough not to do something as dumb as "run rampant". If anything, increased funding will allow them to do more than what they could with the first.

Also Publishers are now becoming aware of the fact that if they "chain down" (so to speak) the Developers by restricting what that can and cannot do, then that's just tampering with the talent of the artist (and from experience) that is never a good thing.

@Moris

Cite me one source saying that a publisher has realized they have impeded a product from being good. Otherwise I call complete and utter bullshit.

Based on the first game, I will be buying this day one and will give them every opportunity to disappoint me. This game could be done rather quickly, since they already have a sound structure in place in terms of gaming and graphical design (both of which I know very little about). All they really need is to implement the story, I guess. It's not like they need a whole new construct, and as was said, the budget should be quite good behind this sequel.

Also, just because they put together a fast trailer and announced the sequel this quickly, that doesn't mean the game is coming out next month...For all we know, it might not hit shelves until a year from now (though I hope it doesn't take that long).

Protip: The reason it was announced so soon is because people who played and loved the first one (like me) wanted a sequel and were disappointed it didn't seem like there would be one.

Why do people HAVE to have sequels? What's wrong with playing the first game again? Not everything is better if you keep making more. Films usually degrade with sequelitis. Games do the same too. Prime example, Bioshock. The first game was amazing, and would go down remembered as a genuine classic. They keep putting out a new one every 3 years and 12 years from now people will be playing the latest iteration going "this series is shit, it needs to die". Then the beauty of the first one is gone. Tarnished by the reputation its spawn have brought forth.

Don't believe me, look at Star Wars. No longer are the first films classics. Now there's such a disgusting taste surrounding it that it's hard to want to go back to it. It's called over-saturation. Enjoy a good thing, but don't ride it into the ground.

Punkrawk Bbob,

Yea, a lot of sequels suck. Especially in the movie industry. But that doesn't mean they all do. Look at Uncharted 2, it's a huge improvement over the original in every way. Bioshock 2 is a different beast because it's clearly a money grab on a game that was never intended to have a sequel. I think Batman is a game that would do well in a sequel. It's very open ended, and comes from a universe full of things continuing. The story of Batman never really ends. Look at the recent films. Batman Begins did alright, but The Dark Knight was a huge hit. I'm not hoping Arkham Asylum becomes a shitty yearly franchise, but if the sequel is done well it could easily end up better than the first game. Discrediting it because "OMG ITS ANOTHER SEQUEL" would be a mistake.

And if you think that the original Star Wars trilogy isn't a classic anymore just becuase of the new films, I'm glad I'll never be as cynical as you. They will always be classics.

Punkrawk Bbob,

I see your point, but you are wrong and/or delusional. It sounds like you are against sequels, in general. To use your Star Wars example, and following your advice, there would have never been an Empire Strikes Back, which happens to be my favorite movie in the series.

Sometimes there is more to explore within the universe that the original kicks off.

p.s. you haven't even played Bioshock2.

p.p.s. You sound like the man.

@Punkrawk Bbob

You're painting with a pretty broad brush there. And it's peculiar that you chose Bioshock 2 as your "prime example" when it hasn't even been released yet. Couldn't you have picked a proven example of a bad sequel rather than a speculative one?

It's not that I don't sympathize with your point in some ways. We've all seen quality series (in whatever medium) that overstayed their welcome with too many bad sequels. Star Wars, as you mentioned, suffered from this problem. But a hardline "all sequels suck" stance is just overcompensating in the other direction.

The question is whether or not the story or game concept is played out. With Batman, I'd say the answer is an unequivocal "hell no." After the first brilliant outing, I'm very psyched to see what else they do in Gotham.

p.p.p.s. You have officially bummed me out, envisioning a world without Aliens, The Two Towers, Dawn of the Dead, The Road Warrior, The Godfather II, The Wrath of Khan, Rocky 2, Terminator 2, Evil Dead 2, and most pertinenty: Modern Warfare 2...

:(

Actually, games are the only medium where the sequel is almost always better than the original.

@ Punkrawk Bbob

Bioshock was the spiritual successor of System Shock 2, which in itself was an excellent sequel, so this whole idea of nothing good coming from sequels is basically a moot point by your own example. Without developers trying to improve on a tried and true formula you would not have Bioshock, thus no reason to complain about a Bioshock sequel. Based on that series' history alone wouldn't you want to at least give it a chance before you complain about it being an unnecessary cash-in?

Even with Eidos out of the picture, I'm sure Rocksteady will develop another great Batman game. It's great that the sequel will be in Gotham, but if the game takes place in Gotham, it probably won't be called "Arkham Asylum 2."

Batman: Gotham City?

I wouldn't mind a more open world batman. Batmobiling and Batwinging around gotham? yes please.

Rocksteady will still make another kick-ass Batman game.

AA1 was finished in Jan. 2009. Truly this game could have up to 11 months of R&D/Development already, so no, I don't think it is rushed. Seriously this game is gonna be amazing. With the engine already developed Fall/Winter 2010 does not seem too far fetched.

I think this talk about rushing the game is rushed. We don't even have a released date. Why must we always rush our speculations about rushing? Everyone's in such a rush these days.

And when you say it enough times, "rush" just starts to sound like a nonsense word anyway. Rush, rush, rush, rush... it loses all its meaning.

Ahem. No more coffee for me, thanks.

Yeah, I'd frankly be more wary if the tables were switched with Rocksteady leaving and Edios had to develop the sequel.

What I didn't like about Arkham Asylum was that we couldn't use the Armored Batman costume in the story mode, and also how after you beat the game you're stuck there finding all the leftover Riddler Trophies and nobody to fight.... Would have been great to keep the upgrades and play again... Hopefully the sequel will fix this.

Puns. They are so painful.

It seems quite obvious to me from the VGA teaser that the sequel will be outside of Arkham. The game will likely incorporate sections of Arkham in the first act, though.

I really hope they stick to the Metroidvania approach.

As long as Rocksteady is developing this next Batman, I couldn't care less who publishes.

Actually who better to publish the game that the ones who owns and care for the property.
i think that for now on every dc comics game will be publish Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

"you have to be so careful when you take that route."
Yeah, make sure you don't get shot walking home from the opera.

Batman is gonna come kick your ass for that crack.

We have no idea how long they've been working on it already. They wouldn't have knocked that trailer up in a week, because there is a lot of plot points hinted at in it that would have had to be decided on for the story arc. Penguins Iceberg Club, the two face posters, the joker's condition etc.

Those don't hint at a story arc. That's just saying "Hey look! They aren't in the game but we remember them!" The Iceberg Lounge is a huge part of The Penguin's character in recent years, so it's a little much to assume it'll be set there, or that the plot will involve two face because you read his name. Will Mr. Freeze, Clay Face, Man bat, calendar man and countless others who were mentioned but not seen be part of the story arc?

Man I really hope it's set in No Man's land. I know people suggested the JLA watchtower but there's no way they could have you fight all the heroes without an incredible over reliance on one use gadgets. No man's land is perfect because it's a large area of Gotham but closed off from the rest so you don't have to go open world, and there's so much room and reasons for supervillains to be dicking around there

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Batman: Arkham City

Eidos not involved in Batman sequel, Arkham Asylum has 'almost run its course'

Reader Comments (44)

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