Some interesting concept art has hit the internet, featuring character designs from a supposedly cancelled sequel to 2015’s Batman: Arkham Knight.
According to the original post, which can be found on 4chan, the project was a new game in the franchise that would focus on Damien Wayne, with Bruce now being old and retired from his life as Batman. The game was being developed under the codename “Project Sabbath,” and would have featured all-new takes on classic characters, with some being entirely new to the series and others just older versions.
The concept art shows off the likes of Poison Ivy, an older Dick Grayson (who would presumably have appeared as Nightwing), a female Black Mask, Gorilla Grodd, and an aged Two-Face whose third personality, the Judge, would be present. Not only does the art show off some of the characters, there are a couple of shots of Gotham City, which now appears to be entirely run-down, with the Wayne Enterprises building seemingly abandoned and left to decay.
The post also mentions a few new game mechanics that were planned, as well. The sequel would have allowed players to drive around Gotham in the Batbike, rather than the standard Batmobile, though no concept art was shown for the vehicle. Another major addition to the series would have been the introduction of the Nemesis System from Lord of the Rings: Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War. The Nemesis System praised in both Middle Earth games, allowing unique stories to unfold as you take on various high-level enemies and create chaos among the enemy ranks. It would have made a really cool addition to the Arkham universe.
The anonymous poster doesn’t mention why the game was cancelled, or even how far into development it went, but they do reveal the fact that it wasn’t Rocksteady working on the project. Instead, development was being handled by WB Montreal, which explains why the Nemesis System was being considered. There are also mentions of couple of other cancelled projects; A Suicide Squad game, which had been heavily rumored for a couple of years, and a Superman game that was apparently rejected.
There have been rumors for the past few years about a new game in the Arkham series, and after seeing this post, it’s hard to say if we will end up seeing it. Though this particular project was cancelled, there are still a ton of rumors about a potential game called Batman: Arkham Insurgency, though we haven’t heard anything about it for the past year. Meanwhile, Rocksteady is hard at work on a new game, but it’s still a mystery as to what the game will be.
Maybe we’ll hear more soon, as Gamescom kicks off in a few days.
