Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League's nine-month delay is reportedly for "polish," not major gameplay changes

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League's lengthy delay is reportedly down to "polish," and doesn't allow time for any substantial rework of the game.

Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier claimed as much in a tweet yesterday on April 13, shortly after Suicide Squad's delay was announced. The reporter claims that the team at developer Rocksteady was told the delay was purely for "polish," and isn't related to the recent gameplay showcase from back in February.

On Suicide Squad...1) Nine months is not enough time to completely change the nature of a game2) The team was told that the delay was for polish and not related to the February gameplay showcase3) Lots of other factors can affect release timing (like the console makers)April 13, 2023

"To be clear: 'polish' can mean lots of things, from performance optimization to balance tweaks to bug fixes to server stability," Schreier added in a further tweet. "Folks are surprised a dev would take nine extra months to polish a game, but that's actually normal these days. (Nine years between games: less normal)," the reporter further added.

When Suicide Squad's big gameplay showcase debuted in February, reactions were mixed. Viewers were overly negative in response to the game's gear scores and battle pass features, and the reveal that Suicide Squad would be the latest game to require an internet connection at all times similarly didn't go down too well with viewers.

The following month in March, Schreier reported that the Suicide Squad game had been delayed. At the time, it wasn't clear exactly why the date was set to be pushed back, but this new information suggests that critical feedback is not a key focus of the extra time.

What we do know for sure is that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is now set to launch on February 2, 2024, a big departure from its previous May 2023 release date. Rocksteady actually put the delay down to taking "the time needed to work on getting the game to be the best quality experience," which definitely aligns with Schreier's new comments.

Check out our new games 2023 guide for a look ahead at all the games that'll be with us before Suicide Squad.

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.