Rocksteady co-founders and studio heads Sefton Hill and Jamie Walker will be leaving the company at the end of this year, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment president David Haddad announced in a letter published on the Rocksteady Studios website on Wednesday.
“With Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League nearly finished, they have both decided to leave Rocksteady at the end of 2022 and will begin a new adventure in gaming,” Haddad wrote in the post. “We have the utmost respect and gratitude for Jamie and Sefton and wish them all the best in their new endeavor, and like many fans, we look forward to what they do next.” In light of Hill and Walker leaving Rocksteady Studios, Haddad announced that founding member Nathan Burlow will become the studio director at the company, while production director Darius Sadeghian will be promoted to studio production director.
In addition to Haddad, the letter also includes comments from Hill and Walker, as well as Burlow and Sadeghian, emphasizing their pride in their respective work at Rocksteady Studios and their excitement for the future. “From the day we founded the company in 2004 all the way to today, Rocksteady has been our life and soul,” Hill and Walker wrote. “It has given us the opportunity to do what we love most: make great games with exceptionally talented people. We are so proud of the team here for the games we have all made together, from our first game Urban Chaos, to the much-loved Arkham series, and now the epic Suicide Squad.”
In August of 2020, Rocksteady Studios was accused of inaction over allegations of sexism and harassment at the company following a report published by The Guardian.
News of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s development dates back as early as July 2010. The upcoming game set in the same universe as the Batman: Arkham games that made Rocksteady’s name, and will take place months after the events of 2015’s Batman: Arkham Knight.
This past March, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was delayed to 2023, after initially being announced at DC FanDome in 2020 and set to be released by the end of 2022.