Batman: Arkham Origins Developers Discuss Taking Over From Rocksteady

Batman: Arkham Origins is the third Batman game in the acclaimed series surrounding the Arkham asylum and all the legendary Batman villains that end up being locked away there.

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, a Batman: Arkham Origins DLC called Initiation puts Bruce Wayne up against ninjas.

Also being released today is Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate, a companion game to Batman: Arkham Origins, which is a 2.5-D handheld game developed by Armature Studio for the PlayStation Vita. But some controversy was started when Rocksteady, game developer of the previous two Batman titles, handed the reigns over to the Warner Brothers Games Montreal for Batman: Arkham Origins. The online multiplayer mode was also developed by Splash Damage.

While WB Games Montréal is new as a studio the team is described as being “senior,” comprised of industry veterans with an average experience of 10 years. They expect the transition to be seamless mostly because the modified Unreal game engine and all the core Batman code has already been developed for the most part. Rocksteady themselves are rumored to be working on new intellectual property and it’s hoped that having their name attached to this future project will make it succeed.

Reid Schneider, Vice President and Executive Producer of WB Games Montréal, discusses how it felt to take over Batman: Arkham Origins:

“It’s a big responsibility taking on the Batman: Arkham franchise and the WB Games Montréal team has dedicated itself to giving players an experience that is worthy of the name. Batman: Arkham Origins allows fans to play through a new take on Batman’s story while experiencing some enhanced game-play mechanics.”

Besides gameplay change, which are described as a more “aggressive” due to the younger Batman, the voices you hear will be different. Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill (aka Luke Skywalker) used to voice Batman and Joker. Roger Craig Smith, who voiced Ezio Auditore di Firenze in Assassin’s Creed 2 and its sequels, will now be Batman. Troy Baker is the new Joker and his voice acting is described as “still very creepy.”

The story of Batman: Arkham Origins focuses on Batman being attacked during Christmas Eve by assassins. The plot centers around a section of Gotham City that will eventually be converted into a prison. The developers explains explain how they approached the story:

“Eric Holmes, our creative director, really wanted to push that narrative arc [in Arkham Origins] where this was the first time Batman meets a lot of his arch enemies, and that allows us more freedom to develop relationships, and to explore where Batman came from. And not only Batman – where did the Joker come from, or the other villains? What was the Penguin like before he got to be this big guy with a criminal empire. That really helped us to go in a different direction while maintaining the core of the franchise.”

Are you looking forward to playing Batman: Arkham Origins?