VGU Talks: Batman Arkham Knight’s Outsourced Development
If there is one thing I personally am scared of when it comes to video game development it is outsourcing. In recent times, there have been more and more games being outsourced either for release on all platforms or specific ports. Although many games seem to succeed with a little bit of outside development, there are big named titles that have been hit with a lot of feedback from gamers. The big title of late being Batman Arkham Knight.
The game as of its release has had pretty good reviews. In my opinion it is a graphically appealing and fun experience that any Batman fan would love. But although the PS4 and Xbox One versions of the game by Rocksteady were well made, the outsourced PC port was a shambles. Players started complaining of multiple problems ranging from bugs to locked FPS rates. It is obvious that the PC version, regardless of the outsourcing, was not ready for it’s initial launch. So this now raises the question, Why did WB Games give the game the go ahead when they cancelled the collector’s edition before launch?
In case you didn’t find out, the Bat Mobile edition of Batman Arkham Knight was cancelled not too far away from the games launch. Many players were shocked and forced to either accept a refund or a pre-order of the standard edition instead. The reason for the Bat Mobile edition being cancelled was that it was not up to the standards set by the guys at WB, which is great to see. They realised that the quality of the product was not up to stuff so they made a decision to cancel it rather than give it more time due to the games launch. Good move by WB on that part, but why did they not do the same with the PC version of the game? Looking at what we have now, it is obvious that the title was not ready for the release window. All that needed to be done was to give an extra month or two to the developers behind the port so that it is up to a better standard.
This is what this whole topic of discussion is about, standards. If the models were not up to the companies standards and were cancelled, then why did they let a half baked game go on shelves worldwide? Could it be money, the promise of the release date or the worry of pushing the game back? Sadly that is an answer that has yet to be answered. It is a shame to see that a series this strong has had something so bad happen to one of its ports. I only hope now that when it is released again for consumers, we are given the product we were expecting. This includes proper options for PC players, native 60 FPS at 1080P with possible 4K support as well as bug fixes. This is another example of outsourcing being more of a detriment to the development of games rather than a benefit.
What are your thoughts on outsourcing and the development of Batman Arkham Knight? Should the game have been made completely by Rocksteady without a third party involvement? Is WB to blame? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.