Gotham Knights Is the Next DC Game From Batman

Gotham Knights we finally have the title for the next DC game from Batman: Arkham Origins developer WB Games Montreal. At DC FanDome, the Canadian studio lifted the lid on Gotham Knights, giving us our first look at what to expect from the open-world action RPG co-op game.

It's set in a world where Batman / Bruce Wayne is dead, which makes room for new heroes. The first Gotham Knights trailer confirmed the presence of Batgirl and the Court of Owls, as had previously been teased, alongside the inclusion of Robin, Nightwing, and Red Hood as playable characters in addition to Batgirl. Mr. Freeze is also among the villains on Gotham Knights.

For those wondering which version of Robin is involved in Gotham Knights, it's Tim Drake. He's described as an expert fighter with a collapsible quarterstaff and is skilled in stealth. Barbara Gordon / Batgirl is a skilled hacker and uses the melee tonfa; she's trained in kickboxing, capoeira, and jiu-jitsu.

Dick Grayson / Nightwing was the first Robin and Batman's protege; he's the eldest in the Batman family, is a master in acrobatics, and wields his signature dual Escrima Sticks. Jason Todd / Red Hood is an anti-hero, as in the comics, owing to the fact he was resurrected. He's the only one who uses guns.

At DC FanDome, WB Games Montreal also gave us eight minutes of gameplay, showing us what it's like to play the game solo and in two-player online co-op. Gotham Knights players will also have access to Batcycle in the game. WB Games Montreal had been working on Gotham Knights for two and a half years now, with the studio's lead game designer Osama Dorias revealing in late 2018 that they had two DC titles in development.

Gotham Knights were clearly one of them. WB Games Montreal has been teasing Gotham Knights since September last year, initially releasing symbols that referenced the Court of Owls and using the tagline “Capture the Knight”. Then in January, it put up the Gotham City Police Department logo on its Twitter account, with the caption “redacted”.

That word would come in use again just this week, as WB Games Montreal created a new website r3dakt3d.com to tease its new DC game. Though the contents of r3dakt3d.com were largely hidden behind a series of four codes that unlock one after the other on separate days, Internet sleuths seemingly figured it out and claimed that Batgirl would be part of Gotham Knights, as we now know. What we didn't know then was the extent of Batgirl's role.

“The team is thrilled to announce Gotham Knights and share our work in bringing a different story of the DC Super Heroes to the forefront,” Warner Bros. Games Montreal creative director Patrick Redding said. “We're looking forward to fans playing and enjoying a lot of action as this new guard of strong DC Super Heroes in Batgirl, Nightwing, Red Hood, and Robin, while solving an original mystery set against a living, breathing Gotham City.”

Warner Bros. Games president David Haddad added: “With Gotham Knights, the team at Warner Bros. Games Montreal is bringing the Batman Family of characters to life in a unique way to delight both fans and new players. As we embark on a new era of interactive storytelling, our development team has been diligently working to create a new, in-depth experience within DC's Batman Universe.”

After nearly a year of teasing and a five-year wait since Rocksteady's Batman: Arkham Knight, two new DC games were finally announced on Saturday, August 22 at DC fandom. We got our first gander at the games during the same event. Meanwhile, several leaks fill in the further missing information for Batman: Gotham Knights.

Here's everything we know about WB Montréal's new game, BATMAN: GOTHAM

Gotham Knights Release Date

Batman: Gotham Knights will release in 2021. WB Montréal did not yet announce a specific season or month for that release.

Gotham Knights Are Available On

Batman: Gotham Knights will be available for PC, PS4, Xbox One, PS5, and Xbox Series X when it launches.

Gotham Knights Trailer

Yes! WB Released a trailer at DC FanDome that you can watch below. The trailer reveals quite a bit about the story's premise. Bruce announces himself as dead to his closest cohorts. It's unknown if this is from his perceived death in Arkham Knight, or from something else, like when Darkseid killed him in the comics. Rumors suggest this will be a soft reboot of the WB's Batman franchise.

After that, we get a close look at four playable characters: Red Hood, Nightwing, Batgirl, and Robin. It's unknown if the Robin is Tim Drake or Damian Wayne. Bruce Wayne also mentions the Belfry, a fictional secondary hideout for the Bat-Family operated by Tim Drake and used by DC's fictional Gotham Knights.

This will possibly be used as a hub for players to choose missions and objectives in the final game. Meaning it could totally be Tim Drake as Robin. However, developer WB Montréal did spend years working on a Damian Wayne game.

We also get a look at The Court of Owls, likely the villains this time around. The screen flashes with a single Talon ( a Court of Owls elite) jump scaring towards the viewer.

Gotham Knights Story

After Batman's death, Batgirl, Nightwing, Red Hood, and Robin must rise up as the protectors of Gotham City Alas with Batman gone, an expansive, criminal underworld has swept through the streets of Gotham. From the trailer, it seems you'll have to stop the Court of Owls and possibly Mr. Freeze. The r3dakt3d teasers from the week of August 17 also imply Two-Face could be present.

Gotham Knights Footages

Yes! In addition to the Batman: Gotham Knights announcement trailer, we also got a full look at gameplay. You can watch it below. From this, we can see that Gotham Knights will feature traversal using the bat-cycle. We can also see that the game will notify you when other players join. These are different costumes than in the announcement trailer, subtly confirming cosmetics will be available. We can also see levels on each character, confirming more RPG-esque elements and that gameplay might be limited based on level.

When Batgirl defeats foes, she acquires items that appear on the left. Perhaps this is our first look at a crafting system? It also appears there's some sort of gear system in play.

The overall game appears similar, but different enough from Rocksteady's Batman Arkham series. The freeflow system seems to be missing from this iteration of Batman.

Gotham Knights Have Multiplayer?

Yes! We see that there's co-op available in the gameplay trailer. In the middle of the gameplay, the upper right corner says "Robin joined the session."

Gotham Knights Leaks or Rumors

Yes! There are rumors, but they vary in reliability. One rumor from Reddit in May 2020, claiming Roger Craig Smith and Troy Baker from Arkham Origins will return to their respective roles while making the following claims:

"Soft reboot, no Arkham title, ignores previous plots. Gameplay and mechanics from Arkham Knight carry over. Robin, Nightwing, and Batgirl all playable. Largest open-world Gotham City yet. Vehicles are in but no vehicle battles. Some villains include Joker, Harley Quinn, Court of Owls, Ra's al Ghul, Penguin, Riddler, Dollmaker, Clock King, and Black Mask." Neither rumor has yet to garner any definitive credibility, but they're both definite possibilities based on what we know about the game.

Gotham Knights Connect to Previous Batman

We don't know yet how or if it's connected to the previous Batman: Arkham series games. It could be something totally new, but some of the leaks do call it a "soft reboot" that won't have any direct affiliation.