Batman: Arkham Asylum 2 unveiled

By Tom Bramwell Published 14 December, 2009

Rocksteady cracks on with sequel.

Warner Bros. has announced Batman: Arkham Asylum 2.

UK developer Rocksteady is handling the sequel, and Warner has taken over publishing duties from Square Enix/Eidos.

There's no word on platforms or a release date yet, but there is a teaser trailer, where Joker is seen cackling as Harley Quinn tends to him and Gotham suffers.

"We are thrilled to build a global game franchise from Batman: Arkham Asylum, which is receiving an incredible response from gamers and fans of Batman around the world," said WBIE president Martin Tremblay.

"Rocksteady has taken Batman to a new level in the videogame space and we are committed to delivering a sequel the fans will love."

Rocksteady game director Sefton Hill said: "We are honoured to create the next chapter in this compelling story and promise to deliver another game worthy of the Dark Knight."

The first Batman: Arkham Aslyum came out for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. You can read our review elsewhere on Eurogamer.

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About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (41) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • khaz #1 2 years ago

    Yaay.

  • Diogo_Ribeiro #2 2 years ago

    Please, no Batmobile stage. That was one of the game's small triumphs, where Rocksteady didn't feel the need to pad out the experience with a forgetable driving stage and instead created a much more memorable sequence with it.

  • Tomo #3 2 years ago

    "We are thrilled to build a global game franchise from Batman: Arkham Asylum"

    /o\

  • bad09 #4 2 years ago

    I was so happy when I saw this yesterday (made up for the Star Wars reveal flop).

    The first actually got me buying games again this year. For me it's very rare these days to enjoy a game right the way through to the end and I enjoyed Batman to the end then on to the challenge rooms (must finish those!). My game of 2009 and from the looks of the top 50 comments there is a lot of deserved love for Rocksteadys fantastically designed game. I cannot wait for more.
    Edited by 1 at 14/12/09 @ 09:34

  • kangarootoo #5 2 years ago

    Batman: AA was imo the finest batman game ever made, no exagerration. It quite simply got the whole "you are batman" thing utterly nailed. And it didn't try and do ALL the batman stuff (like flying over the city, or doing chemistry). It just focussed on the main Batman characteristic (i.e, punching cons in the head or kicking them in the nuts) and based almost all its mechanics around that (with just enough gadgety stuff, but not too much).

    Glad to see Rocksteady still in charge. If Eidos had kept hold of the reins and farmed the sequel out on the cheap it would have been a tradgedy.

  • 3william56 #6 2 years ago

    Why restrict it to Arkham Asylum? Surely the franchise should be Batman games of Arkham quality, not a lame brained retread of (the great, albeit obvious) premise of ArkAs, which would be stupid. Jeez - called to the Asylum >againagain< with the Joker broken out >again< and the lunatics taken over the asylum >again

  • bad09 #7 2 years ago

    Finest Batman? Dunno kangarootoo, Batman The Movie is STILL ace! ;)

    EDIT @ 3william56 it's not in Arkham, check out the trailer.
    Edited by 2 at 14/12/09 @ 09:44

  • muscleblade #8 2 years ago

    Eidos announced a sequel to Batman AA, not nessecary Batman AA 2. The headline is wrong. No way its Arham Asylum 2. Rocksteady wouldnt make such a mistake.

  • Doctor_What #9 2 years ago

    @ 3william56 : I doubt they'd set it completely in the asylum again.

  • Yossarian #10 2 years ago

    I love when people write out paragraph-long complaints that twenty seconds of googling/trailer-watching would have laid to rest.

  • rogueJT #11 2 years ago

    "Why restrict it to Arkham Asylum?"

    Was about to say it.

    They need this engine doing the rounds of all of Gotham City.

  • tossetaz #12 2 years ago

    It's most likely located in The Narrows - the part of Gotham City which surrounds Arkham Asylum.

  • the_dudefather #13 2 years ago

    The official website is 'Arkham has moved' and the trailer shows locations that are not on the Arkham island

  • Embra #14 2 years ago

    Here's hoping they do something better with the 'bosses' this time. From the awful Croc section onwards, the game really ran out of steam. The finale was pretty lame. I loved the game to bits, and am really looking forward to the sequel simply because there is room for improvement.

  • muscleblade #15 2 years ago

    I enjoyed all the bossfights. The poison Ivy one was frustrating on hard, but good bossfights shouldnt be easy.
    My GOTY for 2009.

  • Darren #16 2 years ago

    Batman AA was my personal second best game of 2009 after Uncharted 2 and the finest licensed video game to date so it's great news to finally hear confirmation of the sequel even if it isn't all that surprising given the first game was a critical and commercial success.

    I'd like to see it set somewhere other than Arkham Asylum next time round though and for the game to feel more open world and less linear (or, if linear, make the path through the game different for each difficulty level so there's more incentive to try them). Some optional side quests from the main one to make the game longer would be nice and once the game is finished, it would be cool to still have some sneaky bad guys to mop up while collecting the remaining unlockables instead of it being completely devoid of life as with the original. The first game was only really slightly marred by an incredibly lame final boss fight IMO otherwise it was an almost perfect blend of exploration and combat.

  • kangarootoo #17 2 years ago

    @the_dudefather

    I hear tell that a boss coder was recruited quite late in the project, which is why although the bosses are for the most part well built, they are rather repetative.

  • X3Entente #18 2 years ago

    the premise:
    The crime rate in the united states rises 400%. The once great city of gotham becomes the one maximum security prison for the entire country. A 50 foot containment wall is erected, along the new jersey shoreline, across the harlem river and down along the brooklyn shoreline. It completely surrounds gotham island. All bridges and water ways are mined. The gotham police force like an army are encamped around the island. There are no guards inside the prison, only prisoners and the worlds they have made. The rules are simple, once you go in you dont come out.
    its going to be called Batman: Escape from Gotham City

  • bratmandu #19 2 years ago

    I guess this means no more DLC for AA1 - trade in time!

  • chudders #20 2 years ago

    Loved the first, although I'm struggling to see what could be added to the sequel to make it as well rounded and fresh. You had collectibles, character Bios, character trophies, all the necessary gadgets - what else could they add?

    That, and I'd like to see a different main villain. Penguin maybe?

  • Jesus: Action Figure #21 2 years ago

    @X3extente

    I love you for that ;)

  • Genome #22 2 years ago

    I'm just glad they're bringing in Two-Face and Penguin.

    (The gun-brandishing Uncle Sam on the website is clearly Two-Face and you can see the Iceberg Lounge in the trailer)

  • trip919 #23 2 years ago

    I'm getting an openworld vibe from that teaser. I'm in need of another fix, this can't arrive quick enough!

  • LiamK #24 2 years ago

    I wonder if Batman will forget his gas mask again...

  • hiddenranbir #25 2 years ago

    First game was near perfection.

  • GamesProgrammer Verified Games Team Programmer, Eutechnyx Ltd. #26 2 years ago

    from the trailer its obviously in gotham, but wondering to keep it similar to the original if after the intro your not just trapped in a single city block with a few buildings with roads blocked off.

  • trip919 #27 2 years ago

    When I was playing Assassins Creed 2 (excellent game) I kept thinking how good Batman in a freerunning openworld game would be.

    That combined with his gliding & grapple hook abilities could take it even further then what’s already been accomplished. There are endless possibilities that could be built into that framework.

    Ahh.. if only!

  • Beek4257 #28 2 years ago

    My 2 cents: The Arkham facillity on Arkham Island was closed after AA what with all the poisonous plants and stuff and subsequently moved to a new location in Gotham City, which - based on this trailer - I speculate was a brilliant idea.

    I have such fond memories of AA that I'd really like a sequel, but I'm also kind of anxious it won't live up to them.

  • Sonic_D #29 2 years ago

    B:AA was my GOTY, please don't rush this one and feck it up.

  • gjgjg #30 2 years ago

    already? calmn down guys, this is not the pop music scene where you need to fling out a new single every 2 mins to keep our interest. as mentioned before dont rush this and make a mess just to ride some wave that only men in suits can see

  • sneetch #31 2 years ago

    This is great news.

    I'm wondering if - with the cracks in the Batman logo and the "Arkham has moved" thing - this has some kind of seismic theme, the threat of earthquakes causing Arkham and Gotham to sink into the sea could be interesting and allow a good Killer Croc encounter.

    Maybe I'm reading too much into it, I can't think of any existing Batman villain that would do that kind of thing, although apparently Joker will still be the big bad and with explosives in the right place I'm sure he could do something. :)

  • Yossarian #32 2 years ago

    Well, Gotham has a history of cataclysmic earthquakes, but I don't think that's what's going to happen here.

  • sneetch #33 2 years ago

    @gjgjg

    They're a business, they need to do something with their time, they can't sit around patting themselves on the back. Still, I doubt we'll see this any time soon.

  • it_is_ricky_dee #34 2 years ago

    @ sneetch - The earthquake thing is actually a good call. In the trailer there's reference to Sionis (AKA The Black Mask) who takes over Gotham's underworld after an earthquake. He's also pals with the Penguin... so it all kind of fits. Yes, I am over analysing!

  • OldK1ngCole #35 2 years ago

    Brilliant news. Glad to see RockSteady are developing and that the dev house hasn't been changed.

  • Quint2020 #36 2 years ago

    I think I speak for everyone when I say: \o/

  • Koborover #37 2 years ago

    I hope they won't call it Batman: Arkham Asylum 2, slapping a 2 on everything is so easy. What about Batman: Gotham Asylum or something, judging from the trailer it seems the entire city has become a nuthouse.
    Edited by 2 at 14/12/09 @ 14:53

  • kongzi #38 2 years ago

    Didn't the first game have some loose ends in the story (that I wont spoil, altough if you haven't played the original by now, you a fool) that made it pretty obvious there was going to be a sequel and what that sequel would entail?

  • Xeopuppy #39 2 years ago

    Yes, Yes and thrice YEEESSSSS...

  • Syrette #40 2 years ago

    Assuming that's just a working title, I'll be very disappointed if it's set in Arkham Asylum again.

  • VMerken #41 2 years ago

    I just hope they can keep up the storytelling, scope and size rather than cashing in on the original's popularity with (a) glorified, short expansion pack(s). Tremblay and Hill spouting what appear to be generic PR lines makes me cautious.