When it came to video games, DC was once unbeatable. The ever-iconic Arkham series, unmatched in the genre, a fighting game called Injustice from Mortal Kombat developer NetherRealm, several Telltale titles, including Batman and The Wolf Among Us, and an entire massively multiplayer online game called DC Universe Online were among them. Detective Comics was the only one doing it this well.
Marvel's biggest hits at the time were a fighting crossover with Capcom and Lego games. At that point, Spider-Man had nothing compared to Arkham. Except for the mediocre Deadpool and several unmemorable mobile games, the MCU had all but ended the tie-in era. Marvel was at the bottom and DC was at the top. Nevertheless, the table turned despite all the odds.
DC dug a hole big enough to bury Giganta after the conclusion of the Arkham series and the growing urge to follow condemned gaming trends. Marvel caught up in the years after Knight, while Warner Bros. was preoccupied with figuring out how to profit from the live-service industry and failed to recognize that superheroes and multiplayer games with a lot of microtransactions weren't a good combination.
With Avengers, Marvel dabbled in that realm and soon realized it was a horrible idea. Fortunately, it had Spider-Man as a backup. But DC is all in with Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and Gotham Knights. Even though its developers are attempting to deny it, Wonder Woman job advertisements even hint at live-service components for Diana's major gaming breakthrough.
Heroes in the always-online universe are devoid of their identities to maintain balance. For example, the Hulk cannot play like the Hulk since he would easily outclass Captain America and Iron Man in the game. He is thus a slow, strangely weak melee character. Suicide Squad outdid the Avengers by arming its villains, erasing any individuality from their combat techniques and abilities, and creating a cohesive group. Using an M16, King Shark, and Captain Boomerang each had a shotty. It appears to be little more than a mediocre shooter painted in a superhero theme.
With Arkham, DC introduced the genre to modern superhero games, but after diving blindly into unfashionable trends, it destroyed its reputation. The plot of the movie is almost identical to this one, with Warner Bros. following trends that would ultimately lead to its downfall as it shifted from the critically acclaimed Dark Knight trilogy to an MCU ripoff with the DCEU.
The Rise of Marvel
With the release of Insomniac's Spider-Man, Marvel managed to overtake Arkham, and now they want to go all out with Wolverine and an Arkane-developed Blade game. Not to forget the massive and still-going mobile success of Marvel Snap, we also know that two Black Panthers and an Amy Hennig title are in production. Avengers has been the only significant critical failure of late; even the underwhelming Midnight Suns and Guardians of the Galaxy video games were well-liked by their players.
Warner Bros. attempts to handle everything internally, while Marvel licenses its games. Thus, if a single card falls, the entire house goes down with it. It required the creation of what are effectively live-action Batman spin-offs at its two Arkham studios. Because no one else is attempting to create a DC game and because the development cycles are getting longer and longer, this means that's all we'll be seeing for a very long time. Marvel has stepped in with ease because DC's stellar reputation has been destroyed by this misguided approach, which also leaves no chance for it to be rebuilt anytime soon.
Is DC's Comeback Possible?
Ten years have passed since we saw DC fall from the peak of the heroic mountain and land in the ditches below; under a Warner Bros. as mismanaged as the current one, there doesn't seem to be any chance of that old glory being reclaimed. Not only are there gifted developers dying in the DC live-service mines, but everywhere. Consider Mortal Kombat 1.
Aside from video games, HBO Max was renamed "Max," and many films and television series are being deducted from taxes, never to be released, and the DCEU is coming to an end to mark the start of yet another attempt to recreate the MCU. It makes sense that the gaming industry would be as out of touch given the state of the firm as a whole.
I don't think DC will make a comeback, unlike Batman's "death" in Arkham Knight. Instead, we could be fighting with Brainiac alongside the Justice League, soaring across Metropolis as Superman, or stalking Star City as Green Arrow.
