Warner Bros. acquires Batman dev Rocksteady Studios

by Ludwig Kietzmann on Feb 23rd 2010 8:36AM

Holy strategic acquisition, predictable Batman reference! Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group has announced its purchase of a majority stake in Rocksteady Studios, the developer responsible for towing Batman's star vehicle out of a muddy Gotham ditch. Rocksteady's Batman: Arkham Asylum debuted in 2009 to critical applause and has since shipped over three million copies.

Jamie Walker, studio director of Rocksteady Games, expressed pride in the deal -- the cost of which has not been disclosed. "We are proud to strengthen our association with WBIE, a world class publisher that we have enjoyed working with since we began developing Batman: Arkham Asylum," he said. In addition, games director and excellent sniper position Sefton Hill noted, "The Rocksteady team is very much looking forward to creating more great games based on widely recognized Warner Bros. brands like Batman."

What Warner license will Rocksteady revive next? Whatever it is, it'll have to wait until construction is completed on the unnamed Arkham Asylum sequel.

[Update: Square Enix Europe (Eidos) has confirmed that it still retains a 25.1 percent stake in Rocksteady.]

Source

Tags: acquisition, batman, batman-arkham-asylum, batman-arkham-city, Microsoft, rocksteady, rocksteady-studios, warner-bros, Xbox-360

Reader Comments (50)

Very happy to read studio news that's positive instead of more layoffs. Congrats Rocksteady, keep up the good work!

How's that? I thought acquisitions were usually followed by layoffs a few Qs later. I don't think this bodes well for Rocksteady-made games.

guidedbyvoip is right. The moment RockSteady doesn't perform or better still, the moment Time Warner decides it needs to trim it's fat because of a bad game release, RockSteady is going to suffer..

Looking forward to what ever they come up with. I personally would like to see a Batman (insert super hero here) collaboration now that they have access to Warner's licenses....

"Holy strategic acquisition, predictable Batman reference!"

...ugh. Seriously?

Anything that helps Rocksteady churn out an excellent sequel is good news for me.

The problem is in my experience when big name lic studios get involved they usually crush free thinking rather than encourage it.

Its going to be WB telling rocksteady they can only do things a certain way to keep up with the "image" that the lic wants to portray. Or that we have to add this type of gameplay because thats what the "Consumer Census" shows "HRDKORE GAYMRS W@NT!!"

Maybe im a cynic but I doubt this bodes well for us as gamers...

Well, if Warner is getting Chris Nolan to do a 'Batman Begins/TDK' treatment to Superman...my god, we might be getting a good Superman game! I don't believe it!

Jiminy Jillickers!!!!

As long as they aren't forced to make movie tie-ins.

One of the best games I've played (Besides Uncharted / AC2) during past year. I played the game until I completed all the challenges.

I can't wait for the sequel :)

It's worse than you think. That article says 3 million shipped. Not sold.

Am I the only one a little concerned that WB may get in the way of Rocksteady pumping out another great game?

No, you aren't. I thought the same thing. Proceed with caution...

Hopefully WB knows that letting Rocksteady do it's own thing is the best path to a great game.

This.

My first thought was "No...". And for this reason. As long as Warner Bros. just porvides the material and stays out of the way, everything will be fine. The second they start throwing their weight around, things could get ugly.

Hold on to that copy of AA kiddies, it could still be the last good Super Hero game you ever own......

As the others said, no. I'm always skeptical when a studio gets purchased. Too often you soon hear how key developers were either never for the acquisition in the first place or didn't like the new management after it was completed. Then those developers jump ship and start a new studio of their own. It seems like this happens over and over.

My only hope here is that WB is obviously buying the studio for the talent. In many other cases a studio gets purchased for their IPs, but in this case WB already owns the Batman IP. So hopefully they'll stay out of the way and let these keep doing what they've been doing and just provide resources when necessary.

* let these guys

Doesn't WB have some deal with DC already? I know all of the animated DC shows/direct-to-dvds (i.e. Batman, Superman, Justice League, etc) were/are made through them.

Maybe this will get Rocksteady access to some additional DC licenses? Might be interesting to see if anyone can make a *good* Superman game for example :)

Oh, even better. DC is owned by Warner Bros. So yeah, not surprising they would want to acquire the studio that actually makes a *good* game with a DC license.

It's kind of strange that to me that only 3 million people have bought this game considering it is on PS3, Xbox, and PC.

If you haven't played this game, you need to go buy it post haste.

I don't find it strange. People weren't expecting an awesome Batman game; I certainly wasn't. When it got high reviews and gamers hyped it up by word of mouth people were more aware. So 3 million for a new (I consider it new even though its based on an existing license) IP is outstanding this generation. I'm pretty sure that number is going to increase when Arkham Asylum 2 comes out.

Three million is fine.

3 mil shipped doesnt mean 3 mil sold, although it still sold pretty well for a non-sequel.

Are you speaking bat? Is that what bat sounds like?

I can't tell, is this a good or bad thing?

I'm optimistic that this will be good news as far as continuing to get great Batman games, and maybe expanding into the DCU.

Throw some of those Rocksteady guys on Mortal Kombat 9!

This can go 2 ways:

1) Rocksteady won't have the same freedom with the licenses like they did with Batman: Arkham Asylum and will instead be forced to movie based games or be limited to what they can do creatively with a license.

2) WB won't set any limits and we will get more awesome Batman games, and perhaps we will even finally get a good Superman game. *sigh* A man can dream about a fun Superman game :(

A more direct relationship between Rocksteady and Warner Bros. can be nothing but great for Rocksteady. Not only does it show that Warner Bros. has faith in the quality of future Rocksteady releases, Rocksteady would have more direct access to not only the DC comic franchises, but many of WB's bigger movie franchises as well. Me, if I were Rocksteady, I'd do the Rockstar/The Warriors routa and look amongst WB's catalog for cool movies to adapt into games. Dirty Harry, anyone? :-)

I can't wait for that Superman 64 sequel!!!

Superman 128?

This time you only have 10 seconds to fly through all the rings!

Wouldn't it be Superman 256?

I can't wait for a Captain Planet 360.

Then the power can truly be ours!!

That sniper joke was very funny. Good one Luddy.

Yeah I liked it too.

This is good news but then again it can be bad news. If Warner Brothers were to make Rocksteady do a videogame that ties into like say the Superman reboot it could go wrong. I loved Batman Arkham Asylum probably the best game of 2009 and the best comic book game ever made. There are lot of DC licenses that Rocksteady can make videogames based on. It doesn't have to limited to just Batman. I would love to see a Justice League game from Rocksteady similar to Marvel Ultimate Alliance.

Am I the only one who thinks a Batman: The Brave & The Bold game would be oodles of fun?

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/02/23/wayforward-developing-batman-the-brave-and-the-bold-game/1#c25705904

Your wish-GRANTED.

Can't say I'm surprised by this. Only took 'em 4 months to show off a trailer for the sequel. If a company worked out a game that popular with my IP's, I'd want to keep them close as possible too.

Dear Dark Knight

How Does It Feel To Be Under a New Publisher ( Warner Brothers Studios )

but seriously i wanna see what The Dark Knight ( i think that's his Joystiq Handle ) thinks about this new turn.

I wonder if they would be able to make a Harry Potter game fun? Not a movie based game mind you, just something with the characters.

Maybe (just maybe) they might manage to make Aquaman look good.

Joker: I can't...*punch*--I CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE SAYING! I mean is it just me?!

best move Warner bros. made if they wanna compete in the industry

I would agree especially if they want to do it in house,and save money.

Brilliant Move. No Brainer.

Hopefully this will turn out to be good news. I'm also hoping that this drives WB to recognize other talented developers and get them to make quality games based on other DC characters.

Yeah, they were able to make a great Batman game. But now that Warner owns them, can Rocksteady make a great Superman game? Now THAT'S a challenge!

Joker: "You are not speaking anything any human being can understand!"

I'm just now finally playing Batman. I definitely get what all the hype was about. Hopefully, this will allow Rocksteady to exercise even more of their talent with the IP and give us a solid franchise.

Batman: Arkham City

Warner Bros. acquires Batman dev Rocksteady Studios

Reader Comments (50)

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