Category: Video Games

A Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League player has unearthed a hidden message that looks like a strong hunt at the return of a crucial character.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League spoilers follow.

In Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Harley Quinn kills a mind-controlled Batman in what has proven to be one of the most controversial story moments in Rocksteady’s looter shooter. This is the Batman from Rocksteady’s much-loved Arkhamverse, and so the cutscene sparked a vociferous debate about the character’s demise.

That, many players thought, was that. But could Batman return? A new video from Batman Arkham Videos suggests Batman is set for a return. As detailed in the video, Suicide Squad players can find 12 calendars throughout Metropolis, each highlighting a specific date. Importantly, the calendar for December features a bat symbol on the marked day, and is found in the location of a crucial Batman scene.

While this Easter egg appears to be the work of Batman supervillain Calendar Man, it is very much about Batman himself. As Batman Arkham Videos worked out, is that converting the dates into letters based on the day of the month, and sorting each letter in order by month, they spell out a hidden message: “He will return.”

As you’d expect, the discovery has caused the Suicide Squad community to excitedly predict how Batman might return. On the face of it, it seems unlikely (he was shot in the head after all). But there are all sorts of theories beyond the simple, ‘this is a comic book story so superheroes never die’ explanation. For example, some theorise the Justice League characters who are killed in the game are clones created by Brainiac, and the original characters are holed up somewhere for safekeeping. Another theory suggests multiverse shenanigans, which may or may not mean Batman from another universe turns up to save the day. Some even reckon the entire game takes place in an alternate universe separate from previous Arkham games.

There’s more: datamining has shown strong hints that Flash and Green Lantern are set to return in some form, so adding Batman to the list wouldn’t be a big reach. Officially, all we know is that Joker is set to arrive in Suicide Squad as a playable character. Other characters suspected to be on their way include Mrs Freeze (Nora Fries), Lawless, and Deathstroke.

But it’s the return of Batman that would be the highest-profile change, given how Suicide Squad’s story has gone down with some. Developer Rocksteady and publisher Warner Bros. have yet to comment.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Helldivers 2 has become Sony’s biggest ever game launch on Steam, despite a ‘mixed’ reception from players.

Arrowhead Game Studios’ cooperative action game is published by Sony Interactive Entertainment across PS5 and PC via Steam. While Sony does not publish player numbers for PlayStation games, Valve does for Steam games. Yesterday, February 8, Helldivers 2 launched big on Steam with a peak concurrent player count of 81,840. That puts it ahead of Sony Santa Monica’s God of War, which enjoyed a peak concurrent player count of 73,529 when it launched on PC two years ago, according to SteamDB.

.@helldivers2 is now the most concurrently played game on Steam published by @PlayStation at 81k players.

Previous record was God of War at 73k players. pic.twitter.com/Ki0cJtdi4n

— SteamDB (@SteamDB) February 9, 2024

Helldivers 2’s PC success comes despite it launching day-and-date alongside the PS5 version, which is an unusual but not unprecedented strategy for Sony. Sony published IllFonic’s Predator: Hunting Grounds, for example, across PS4 and PC on the same day in April 2020. Helldivers 2 is also the top-selling game by revenue on Steam, ahead of smash hits such as Palworld and Call of Duty. It’s worth noting Helldivers 2 is not a full-price game but cheaper at $39.99.

Whether Sony might be willing to relax its policy for its big first-party exclusives remains to be seen. The recently released Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is not available on PC and Sony has yet to announce a PC version. Shift Up’s eye-catching action game Stellar Blade is down for release on PS5 only, as is Team Ninja’s Rise of the Ronin. Concord, a brand new PvP multiplayer first-person shooter from Firewalk Studios, is due to launch on PS5 and PC.

Despite Helldivers 2’s Steam success, it has a ‘mixed’ user review rating, with some users pointing out performance problems that are causing issues on PC. Arrowhead has released a patch to Steam that appears to have eased matchmaking issues for PC as well as some crash issues.

“We know there’s more to solve, and we’re working our way through it,” Game Director Mikael Eriksson said. “Nevertheless, we hope this rapid patch goes a long way to making your experience better.

“Now go smash some bugs (and bots)!”

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Cardy, Matt, and Jesse have been blowing loads up aliens up in Helldivers 2 and having a bloody laugh doing it, too. There’s also a big delve into the first couple of chapters of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and whether it lives up to the high standards of Remake. Plus, there’s also plenty of time to look back at Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, chat about True Detective: Night Country, natter about The Iron Claw, and break huge chocolate biscuit news.

Get in touch at ign_ukfeedback@ign.com.

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