Batman: Arkham Origins Announced; New Dev Handling Franchise
Once prowling the night as a rumor, Warner Bros. has outed a new installment in the critically acclaimed and publicly loved Batman: Arkham series.
Batman: Arkham Origins is, naturally, a prequel to the duo of Rocksteady developed games which will follow an inexperienced Batman during his novice caped crusading days (a la Year One). And, damn, if superhero-ing doesn’t have its share of turbulence. Gotham City PD, not overly enthused by Batman’s vigilante antics, still considers him a public menace. On the criminal end of the spectrum, Black Mask, professional mobster/megalomaniac, has put a city wide hit on the Batman, sending eight trained assassins after his cowl.
Rocksteady is taking a pass on the prequel, sadly, but Warner Bros. Montreal, an in-house studio, is taking over development reigns, utilizing their predecessors’ modified Unreal engine and assets in order to maintain that Arkham feel fans have grown so accustomed to. Self-proclaimed comic aficionado, Eric Holmes, the creative director behind Hulk: Ultimate Destruction (rad) and Prototype (not so rad), is leading the prequel.
Arkham Origins is planned for release on October 25th for all current gen consoles including the Wii U; its existence on next-gen systems hasn’t been confirmed yet. A handheld counterpart called Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate, a 2.5D Metroid-vania title cobbled together by Armature Studios, is releasing for the 3DS and Vita the same day as its big console brother. Game Informer’s May issue features the game as its cover story.