The massive bomb Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which brought the antics of narrative design firm Sweet Baby Inc. into the light, has hit a new low, both in terms of failure and pricing. The Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Digital Deluxe Edition, originally priced at $100, is on currently on the Epic Games store for just five bucks.
Set in the beloved Rocksteady Arkham-verse, Kill the Justice League is one of the most epic video game fails in history. It lost Warner Bros. an estimated $200 million and caused mass layoffs at Rocksteady. Suicide Squad was heavily influenced by Kim Belair’s Sweet Baby Inc., so much so that the controversial narrative consulting firm had its own marked section of the game’s end credits sequence.
The Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Digital Deluxe Edition launched at a price of $100. It features Justice League outfits for the squad, three notorious weapons, four weapon dolls, one battle pass token, and four color swatches.
The $5 price point is only available on the Epic Games store. Steam, PlayStation, and Xbox stores still list the title at $99.99.
Additionally, only the digital deluxe edition is $5 on the Epic Games store. The base version of the game is still listed at $69.99.
This constitutes a whopping 95% off the original price, which is practically unheard of for a game that’s not even a year old.
But when you look at the current concurrent player count on Steam, you start to realize why retailers are essentially giving this game away.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has an all-time concurrent player record of 13,459 players on Steam. Nine months ago, this number was the laughing stock of the gaming world (rightfully so) but it’s Woodstock compared to where the game sits now.
As of this writing, the game has only 84 people playing worldwide.
In the last 24 hours, its seen a peak of 117. As the title is a live service game, the strategy seems to be dangling the Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Deluxe Edition in front of players at a low price with the intent of bringing them in and making money off them through microtransactions.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was incredibly controversial upon its release. The game sees players take on the role of the Suicide Squad as they battle and ultimately kill members of the Justice League. This includes Batman, voiced by the late Kevin Conroy in one of his final appearances as the caped crusader. He’s executed by Harley Quinn in a dingy alley via a gunshot to the face.
The game got people talking about Sweet Baby Inc. for the first time, and brought the actions of Kim Belair and her staff to light. The narrative design firm signs on with major studios (for a massive consulting fee) to rework game scripts and make them more diverse and inclusive. Since their actions were brought to light, Sweet Baby Inc. has been trying to hide its involvement in upcoming titles, as the mere whiff of Kim Belair’s presence is enough to make players steer clear.
Steam user Kabrutus Rambo even created a curator page on Steam called “Sweet Baby Inc. Detected” to keep gamers informed. Sweet Baby Inc employees responded to this by launching a targeted harassment campaign, reporting the page and trying to get Kabrutus’s Steam account banned.
Rocksteady is reportedly now working on a remake of Batman: Arkham Asylum. There’s no word yet on any Sweet Baby Inc. involvment.
Are you surprised that the Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Digital Deluxe Edition is only $5? Is that enough to get you to try the game out? Will we eventually see the game become free to play? Sound off and let us know!