According to a new report, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has been trying to make a Superman game since 2013, but hasn’t had any success in this pursuit, proving again that the iconic DC hero is one of the hardest superheroes to make a game for. The report comes from well known leaker and writer, James Sigfield, who took to Twitter to reveal that Warner Bros. has been trying to give Superman his own solo game since 2013. In this process, Warner Bros. has taken many pitches and greenlit a variety of games, from big open-world titles to more linear experiences. However, eventually all have fallen apart at one point or another, which explains why we’ve heard rumblings about Superman games for years, but have never seen any of them.
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WB has been actively trying to develop an open world Superman game since ~2013. A thread… pic.twitter.com/UMYHDGamiL
— James Sigfield (@Jsig212James) November 10, 2019
According to Sigfield, one of the earliest pitches that got the green light from Warner Bros. was an open-world Superman game that was similar to what Marvel’s Spider-Man on PS4 wind up being. It was going to feature a huge Metropolis and a range of DC villains. Sigfield notes this project never even made it out of the prototype stage before it was canned.
One game pitched in 2013 was to be an open world Superman game in the vein of Spider-Man PS4. It would feature a massive Metropolis and feature various villains from the DC pantheon… pic.twitter.com/p3vTRP9M2O
— James Sigfield (@Jsig212James) November 10, 2019
More images… pic.twitter.com/qjlmoBpeg7
— James Sigfield (@Jsig212James) November 10, 2019
The next game came in 2014. It was dubbed Superman: Unbound, and was set to follow the path of the comic series and animated movie. A more linear experience, the game was going to take place largely in Kandor, a Metropolis-like city located on Krypton. It sounds like this project was doing well, but Warner Bros. wanted it to run on its proprietary Arkham engine. Apparently the devs couldn’t get the game to run on the engine though, leading to its cancellation.
The game, tentatively titled Superman: Unbound, was set to follow the path of the comic series/animated movie… pic.twitter.com/TDmdXuEOru
— James Sigfield (@Jsig212James) November 10, 2019
The game was supposed to be less “open world” so as to limit Superman’s vast array of abilities. This game was to feature foes such as Brainiac, Doomsday, and tons of other mind controlled villains. pic.twitter.com/QBt1r2BGSs
— James Sigfield (@Jsig212James) November 10, 2019
The reason for its cancellation, was that around the same time WB was expanding their DC output, they had mandated that every game to use the Arkham engine. Getting Superman’s flight to work in that frame would’ve been near impossible… at the time.
— James Sigfield (@Jsig212James) November 10, 2019
Interestingly, Sigfield notes that WB Montreal’s Suicide Squad game was also cancelled for this reason: it couldn’t get up and running on the aforementioned engine. The game was reportedly an open-world joint and had you playing as various members of the group, such as Harley Quinn and Deathstroke. As for Superman, Sigfield says Warner Bros. is still taking pitches for games starring the hero, and could possibly be working on one right now.
