Should Monolith Productions Take the Reins of the Batman Franchise After Arkham Knight?

The results are in, and Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor appears to be surpassing many expectations. Overall, the game is receiving very strong reviews. It appears that Monolith Productions has produced one of the best titles based on The Lord of the Rings franchise in recent memory. So, perhaps there is  potential to pass the torch to another major game franchise, the Batman: Arkham series published by Warner Bros. Interactive. Rocksteady Studios has made it very clear that Batman: Arkham Knight will be the game developer’s final foray into the franchise of the Dark Knight. However, business is business, and it does not take a fool to imagine that WB Interactive will want to release another big triple A Batman game at some point. Perhaps after Arkham Knight is completed, due to Monolith Production’s results with Shadow of Mordor, Monolith  could be the best company suited to take the reins of the Batman franchise from Rocksteady.

Of course, Warner Bros. Montreal is still in the picture. However, that developer received less than sterling results with Batman: Arkham Origins. The company’s first game was the Wii U port of Batman: Arkham City. Later, WB Montreal got the opportunity to tackle its own installment of the Arkham franchise with Arkham Origins. Unfortunately, the game achieved less than stellar results and received a great deal of criticism due to glitches. For many critics, the game was seen as an inferior imitation of Rocksteady’s work.

Does that mean that WB Montreal should never receive another chance? Not so. However, the production of Arkham Origins shows that WB Interactive desires to continue exploiting the Batman property with games that are evocative of the hit Arkham installments. Monolith Productions even had its own stumbling block in the Batman franchise in Gotham City Impostors. Perhaps the work by Monolith on Shadow of Mordor proves that the developer is still capable of making some great games. Provided the sales are there, a sequel to Shadow of Mordor would not be surprising. Arkham Knight does not hit the shelves until next year. Therefore, any future massive Batman game release is not in the near future.

Shadow of Mordor is a solid, fun game that clearly took some of its cues from the Arkham series. The combat and freedom of movement around the environment, along with the Wraith Sense, feel very similar to the Arkham series. However, with aspects like the game’s Nemesis System, Shadow of Mordor plays like a game all its own. If Monolith could achieve similar results with Batman or Batman Beyond, I would be all for it. Batman Beyond, especially, would make for a tremendous game premise, and I would love to see that world brought to life in a game.