Suicide Squad refuses to backtrack on always-online requirement but promises offline story mode

Following a new trailer for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League at The Game Awards, the team at developer Rocksteady have said they plan to add an option to play the game offline sometime after launch (via VGC).

Although Suicide Squad is mostly billed as a co-op action game, you will be able to play through the whole thing solo. However, earlier this year, it was discovered Suicide Squad would require a mandatory internet connection, meaning you can’t play it offline even in single-player. Unsurprisingly, a lot of people didn’t care for that.

While the backlash hasn’t prompted Rocksteady or publisher Warner Bros. to back peddle and remove the mandatory online, they are doing the next best thing and planning an offline option for the story mode. That way, not only can anyone with poor or no internet access enjoy the game, but it means Suicide Squad won’t become unplayable if, or when the servers are taken offline.

The bad news is this option won’t be available when Suicide Squad launches on Feb. 2, but a message shared to the game’s official Discord server says the goal is to have it out before the end of the year. This is already a better position than what Redfall, another co-op action game, is in. That one demands an internet connection in single-player too and while developer Arkane did tell Eurogamer it would look into an offline option, there’s been no word on it since the game’s launch.

In the meantime, Suicide Squad fans can enjoy the latest trailer that shows new glimpses of gameplay and the story, including snippets from boss fights against The Flash and Green Lantern. There’s even a giant demon Batman at one point, though I suspect this is actually Batman using the Scarecrow’s fear toxin to create an illusion. Especially since it also looks similar to the demon Batman seen in the true ending of Batman Arkham Knight.

There was never a proper explanation for what that thing was so, with Suicide Squad serving as a continuation of the Arkham games, perhaps Rocksteady will use it as an opportunity to tie up any loose ends.