Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is a divisive topic as is, largely due to Rocksteady’s move towards live service and design shifts from their beloved Arkham franchise, but the contentious game managed to draw even more heated exchanges this weekend for a different reason: there will not be any pre-launch review coverage.
The news broke out Saturday when IGN announced that they were denied a review code entirely, with social media users theorizing the decision by Warner Bros. had to do with the mega-gaming site’s preview bluntly titled “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Preview – We Played It and Didn’t Like It.” Multiple sources began reporting their own interactions with WB contacts and fellow journalists, at which point it came to light that review codes are going out this week but will only be playable when the servers officially go online Tuesday, 1/30, for the 72-hour early access period attached to the $100 deluxe edition.
What this means is that press and content creators will be getting their hands on the game at the same time as the general public — or at least those that pay the extra money. Given how much controversy Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has gained, many were likely waiting to see review scores drop before pulling the trigger on the purchase themselves. The options now are wait for coverage to trickle out in the days following release or simply bit the bullet and test their luck with the game.
Some argue that launch-day embargos and review code distribution at-launch are signs of a bad game. That isn’t necessarily the case. WB’s reasoning that codes are being issued when servers go online, meaning the game can actually be played and assessed, works as a base-level explanation. But given how much ire Suicide Squad has drawn at virtually every turn, including the recently revealed Joker return, it’s unfortunate that Rocksteady and Warner Bros. didn’t plan to allow for review coverage pre-launch since it looks to be doing little in the way of garnering faith and optimism in prospective buyers.
All that said, we are on the precipice of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League‘s release and it won’t be much longer before the internet en masse renders their verdict on Rocksteady’s continuation of the rich universe they last brought to life in 2015.
