Ex-Rocksteady Directors Launch Secret of Circadia Kickstarter After 2024 Suicide Squad Burnout
Updated
Updated · Video Games Chronicle · Jul 3
Ex-Rocksteady Directors Launch Secret of Circadia Kickstarter After 2024 Suicide Squad Burnout
3 articles · Updated · Video Games Chronicle · Jul 3
Summary
Axel Rydby said Rocksteady’s 2024 Suicide Squad development left him wanting to quit games, before he and Johnny Armstrong launched a Kickstarter for indie title Secret of Circadia.
Warner Bros. executives pushed the live-service project toward monetization and recouping delays from 2022 to 2024, Rydby said, turning development into work driven by an unclear marketing spreadsheet.
Johnny Armstrong told Bloomberg the team initially believed Rocksteady could handle the shift after a run of hits, but that confidence faded as business priorities overtook player-focused design.
Secret of Circadia now marks the pair’s break from that model, while Rocksteady has since been linked to a new single-player Batman project, a live-service hiring push and Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight.