When is a live service game not a live service game? When it’s Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which we’ve now learned will indeed have a battle pass – but only for cosmetic items.
The next much-delayed, much-anticipated new DC universe action game from Rocksteady (the studio behind the Batman Arkham titles), Suicide Squad, got an in-depth showcase during Sony’s State of Play event. A new trailer and behind-the-scenes video showed off the game’s four-player co-op mayhem, which includes shooting, collecting loot, and lots of ‘shoot the glowing blob on the fleshy enemy’ – the sort of thing that recalls the boss fights from Lost Planet on the PS3.
Rocksteady also sought to clarify details surrounding Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s battle pass system – something that became public knowledge a few weeks ago following a few leaked screenshots. The studio pointed out that the battle pass will be for cosmetic items, while additional characters and missions will be added later via DLC. “When the story’s done, your experience doesn’t end there,” says game director Axel Rydby. “Rocksteady will continue its legacy of supporting the game after its launch… We’re going to have new playable characters, new weapons, and new missions. For players who like to customise their looks, we’ll offer a battle pass that only contains cosmetic items.”
What only came to light after State of Play had finished was that Suicide Squad will need a constant internet connection to play – even when you’re in single-player mode. As noted by Gamespot, the revelation can be found on the game’s website, which reads, “Yes, an internet connection I required to play Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League solo or via online co-op.”
In short: anyone with a patchy internet connection, or someone who picks up a copy of Suicide Squad from, say, a charity shop in a few years, will have a difficult time playing it. Studios end online support for online games all the time, which means that even Suicide Squad’s solo-player-with-bots mode will, in all likelihood, become inaccessible.
In terms of colourful, hectic action, though, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League looks like plenty of fun. Rocksteady does have a pedigree for this sort of thing, after all.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is out on PC, Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 on 26 May.
