‘Batman: Return to Arkham’ Release Date and Reasons for Delay

Jul 12, 2016 08:02 AM EDT

Like No Man's Sky and the next The Legend of Zelda game, Batman: Return to Arkham is one game that is anticipated, but is sadly delayed.  This isn't really a new game, but it is from the best-selling Batman: Arkham series of games that were quite the best sellers and ended with Batman: Arkham KnightBatman: Return to Arkham is a compilation pack the features remastered versions of Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City for the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One, including the release date and reasons for the delay. 

Batman: Return to Arkham was announced in May, and was supposed to launch on July 26, according to CNET.  However, it was the end of June when Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment confirmed that the game was delayed indefinitely.  One would think that this would not be too difficult, as this is essentially a port of games that were popular on the PS3 and Xbox 360. 

However, the Developer Virtuous Games is "struggling with the frame rate issues. Warner Brothers Interactive wants to make certain that its players will have "a polished Batman: Arkham game experience", so there were some issues. 

The plan is that the companies are going to communicate to the players "once we are sure the game will be ready".  They have also said "we know this is disappointing news, but we feel the extra time will allow the team to create the best gaming experience for our fans."

As always when it comes to video games, the delay is really affecting the fans.  So what can be expected for the upgrade to the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One?  Well, there should be some improved graphics as well as upgraded models, environments, lighting, shades and effects.  This is because the first two original games were powered by the Unreal Engine 3, with the remasters being developed by the Unreal Engine 4. 

There is a lot of expectation for Batman: Return to Arkham, as the first game for Batman: Arkham Asylum came out in 2009 and was an instant hit as it portrayed Batman in a very, very dark and grim version of Gotham city.  It also brought back some famous voice actors from the DC Animated Universe including Keven Conroy, Mark Hamill, and Arleen Sorkin as their respective roles of Batman, Joker, and Harley Quinn.  Naturally, it was followed up by an equally popular sequel game with Batman: Arkham City two years later in 2011.  The trilogy was technically complete with Batman: Arkham Knight released just last year, but there was a prequel game known as Batman: Arkham Origins released in 2013.