Summer Game Fest 2024 is less than a month away and without E3 looming any longer it has more or less subsumed its role as ‘Gamer Christmas’ when it comes to new game announcements or reveals. There’s a smattering of previously announced games that need an actual reveal or release date that could make an appearance, for instance, and some games have already been confirmed. One of the most exciting reveals is sure to be Meta Quest 3’s Batman: Arkham Shadow.
As a VR title it may not be as enticing as if an Arkham game was being revealed for ordinary consoles, but Batman: Arkham Shadow will still be thrilling to see at Summer Game Fest in June due to it essentially resuscitating the Arkhamverse canon following Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. DC games desperately need a win, even if Meta Quest 3 might not be the vehicle many hoped it would arrive in. Rather, Shadow hopefully won’t be enough to satiate a DC quota at Summer Game Fest because it would be doubly galvanizing if Monolith’s Wonder Woman finally emerged once again.
Monolith’s Wonder Woman Shouldn’t Hold Out Much Longer for a Reveal
It can be easy to forget a Wonder Woman game is being developed by Shadow of Mordor’s Monolith now that it’s been almost three years since it was announced at The Game Awards 2021. It’s been longed for at each Game Awards since and each year it hasn’t been shown, leaving it without a legitimate reveal still, let alone a release date.
Of course, AAA games nowadays tend to be announced and then put in the oven for several years thereafter, so there’s virtually no reason to suspect that it’ll appear again for a couple of years anyhow and even that may be marginally optimistic. Wonder Woman should be allowed to cook as long as it needs to so that its final product is one Monolith can be proud of, though it’s undeniable that any kind of update would be appreciated, even if it was a brief Summer Game Fest teaser to announce a vague release window.
DC Should Come Out Swinging at Summer Game Fest
Regardless of how sensational Batman: Arkham Shadow’s VR experience looks during its Summer Game Fest reveal, there will be a huge portion of the Arkhamverse community who’s disappointed that what they’re looking at isn’t another regular platform installment in the franchise.
The biggest surprise of all would be if Geoff Keighley has another Arkham game announcement prepared to drop alongside the reveal of Shadow, but even greater than that could be if Keighley managed to secure some sort of teaser or trailer for Wonder Woman. There’s a lot more riding on Wonder Woman because it isn’t clear what it’s going to look like yet and it’s the only real AAA single-player DC game currently confirmed.
Investing in it would be a sign of good faith that it believes in Monolith and understands players want single-player experiences. Plus, this would go a long way in expressing that the ethos of single-player games in the DC gaming space hasn’t been eradicated following WB’s admission of wanting more service titles.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League being called “disappointing” by Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav is unfortunate, but such clarity could hopefully mean that the DC gaming landscape is prepared to shift again and it already has a game players want to root for in Wonder Woman. If nothing else, it would be a relief to hear how the development of Wonder Woman is going and what can be expected from it moving forward.
Batman: Arkham Shadow
- Released
- October 21, 2024
- ESRB
- T For Teen // Violence, Mild Blood, Language
Become Batman in this official new entry into the Arkham franchise.
It’s the Fourth of July, and Gotham City is under attack by a new threat: the mysterious Rat King and his cultish devotees. As widespread rioting engulfs the city, Batman races to prevent this so-called “Day of Wrath” before it all goes wrong.
Experience the World of Batman Like Never Before:
Immerse yourself in all the grit of Gotham City with the power of VR, and take down its most notorious criminals.
Hard-Hitting Arkham Combat
Realized exclusively for VR—choose from fan favorite gadgets and bold fighting styles reimagined from the beloved Arkham franchise.
Friends, Foes and Other Familiar Faces:
Meet Dr.’s Quinzel and Crane before they became Harley Quinn and Scarecrow, as well as other iconic characters including Harvey Dent, Jim Gordon, and Ratcatcher.
- Developer(s)
- Camouflaj
- Publisher(s)
- Oculus
- Franchise
- Batman: Arkham
- Platform(s)
- Meta Quest 3, Meta Quest 3S
- Genre(s)
- Action, Virtual Reality
