Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment recently revealed that the Gotham Knights PlayStation 4 and Xbox One editions were no longer in production. This caused some small amount of outcry from the gaming community, but there are numerous reasons as to why the publisher could have made such a decision. We’ll go over them in detail right here.
Gotham Knights was too Ambitious
The first argument could be that Gotham Knights had simply become too heavy for the older consoles. While playable solo, Gotham Knights has clearly been designed for co-op gameplay. Offering an open world with numerous story missions and optional objectives, playable online by two players in real-time may simply have been too demanding for the aging PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles. In particular, those base systems which launched all the way back in 2013.
Without any insight into the inner workings of Warner Bros. Games Montreal, it’s hard to determine whether or not Gotham Knights PlayStation 4 and Xbox One editions were holding back the development of the game. However, whatever the case may be, there’s also financial considerations to take into account…
Covid-19 Has Hit Studios Hard
Combined with the above demands of getting Gotham Knights PlayStation 4 and Xbox One editions up-and-running, there’s also the fact that the ongoing pandemic has obviously affected development at studios across the globe. It may well have been that developing five skus (Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 and PC) and having them all in a respectable fashion in time for the game’s 25th October, 2022, launch may simply not have been feasible.
Despite the belief that developing for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 is ‘easy’ due to the system’s relatively similar architecture, they are different consoles. And with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment obviously banking on Gotham Knights being a hit this holiday season. Delaying the current-generation releases was obviously not an option.
Gotham Knights PlayStation 5 & Xbox Series X|S Will be Holiday Hits
And once again continuing that thread, it’s highly likely that the game will perform well this holiday season. Firstly, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S gamers have been crying out for titles which take full advantage of the new consoles. Of which, there are very few on the 2022 release schedule currently. And so it’s likely that the publisher is banking on an increased adoption rate because of this. Current estimated sales figures put the current-generation at around 35 million units. Even a 10% adoption rate would hit 3.5 million, and that’s before taking into account PC gamers.
Furthermore, we’ve not taken into account hardware sales over the next six months. Sony and Microsoft will undoubtedly have plans to make this holiday season the biggest yet for current-generation sales. It’s likely that those plans have already been shared with big publishers, such as Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. Perhaps it’s time that the install base is becoming big enough for publishers to move away from the previous-generation, as with Microsoft’s own Starfield?
What are your thoughts on Gotham Knights PlayStation 4 and Xbox One editions being cancelled? Will you miss the opportunity to play? Or are you glad we’re beginning to see the shoots of a current-generation only industry movement? Let us know in the comments below!
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