WB Games Montréal’s Gotham Knights has been out for three months now, but what are the chances of Gotham Knights 2 taking players back to Gotham City? Let’s take a look at the possibility of the Bat-Family suiting up and returning for a video game sequel.
Despite the superhero genre dominating the landscapes of cinema and television for the past decade plus, the world of gaming hasn’t quite gone in the same direction. Sure, there are comic book-themed games being released every so often, but not as regularly as some might expect. As a result, when a superhero video game is released, there’s a lot of attention and buzz surrounding it – for better or worse, really. If the game is fantastic, the hype works in its favour. If it is less than stellar, well, you know how the Internet and hyperbole go hand in hand… Let’s say it’s described as the worst thing ever.
The reception towards Gotham Knights
One of the biggest drawbacks of Gotham Knights is how it’s constantly compared to the Batman: Arkham series. In our positive review of the game, we discussed how this would be a major factor in how people approached the title and judged it – and it proved to be prophetic words. It also didn’t help that the game was cancelled for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, even though it only ran at 30 FPS. After all, if Gotham Knights was supposed to focus on being the best possible game for next-gen consoles, then why didn’t it run at the expected level?
Ultimately, the reception towards Gotham Knights proved to be slightly more than lukewarm – well, enough for a warm cup of tea. It was far from the disaster that the Internet painted it out to be, but it received a 68% score for the PlayStation 5 version and 64% score for the Xbox Series X on Metacritic. Those aren’t the worst scores by a country mile, though it’s likely that Warner Bros. Games expected more.
What we would like to see in the sequel
While there is certainly room for improvement in the gameplay mechanics and performance on next-gen machines, there’s a fantastic opportunity for Gotham Knights 2 to continue to expand the lore of the Batverse. There’s been a complaint that DC and Warner Bros. Discovery rely too much on Batman for its comic book properties and adaptations, so that’s why Gotham Knights was a breath of fresh air. It still had the shadow of the Bat lingering, but it focused on all the ancillary characters and gave them time to shine.
Gotham Knights 2 could introduce even more characters to the roster. From Batwoman to Luke Fox’s Batwing or even Stephanie Brown’s Spoiler, there’s the chance to expand the Bat-Family and allow for more playable characters. In terms of the villains, the sequel could follow its predecessor by focusing on the rogues who haven’t had much screen time. Think Hush, the Ventriloquist, or others who aren’t named the Joker, Scarecrow, or Riddler.
Heck, if Gotham Knights 2 wants to be adventurous, it could even adapt the Battle for the Cowl storyline where the characters compete to become the next Batman. It would be interesting to see how each of them would fare in the Batsuit and what would be their fighting style with all of the Dark Knight’s gadgets at hand.
The sales of Gotham Knights
Considering Gotham Knights was released in October 2022, looking at its 2022 sales does feel slightly unfair, since other games released earlier in the year will have an advantage purely based on time. According to Statista, Gotham Knights was the 17th-best-selling video game in the US. However, God of War Ragnarök, which was released a month after Gotham Knights, landed up in fourth position. All things considered here, the sales weren’t as good as Warner Bros. Games may have expected, especially with a game associated with a money-maker like Batman.
The likelihood of Gotham Knights 2
The state of the DC Universe is in flux. James Gunn and Peter Safran aren’t only casting a leading hand over the films, but also animation and video games. As a result, they will have noted the reception and sales towards Gotham Knights. From a realistic perspective, this doesn’t bode well for the future of the series. They might decide it’s time to go back to basics and focus on the legacy characters to build something bigger. In short, no one should hold their breath for Gotham Knights 2.
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Would you like to see Gotham Knights 2? Let us know in the comments section.
