Batman Arkham Knight is four years old at this point, and we're well overdue for another Batman game. Finally for Batman Day last month the silence was broken and the first official tease for the next Batman Arkham game was released. As of right now we don't know the title - but could it be Batman Arkham Legacy?
The rumour is both of that Batman Arkham Legacy title, but also what it refers to - the Bat-family of Batman's closest allies, who will all apparently be playable in the game, alongside Batman himself presumably. The question is then - how likely is this rumour? Let's have a look.
Is Batman Arkham Legacy the next Batman game?
The excitement over this rumour was started by Twitter user New_WabiSabi, a journalist for Spiel Times and Nintendo Soup - who had previously been sent a cease-and-desist from Nintendo for leaking too much- who tweeted the following dual tweets:
The stuff about the playable family seems to be legit
— Sabi (@New_WabiSabi) October 21, 2019
The idea of the next Batman game being called Arkham Legacy and featuring the Bat-family as playable characters is certainly not a new rumour. We pushed Sabi to say where they heard this new rumour, but they seem to be simply responding to existing rumours - and confirming them, potentially. Popular Arkham YouTube channel Batman Arkham Videos seems to back up Sabi, too.
If the game is all about being able to play the entire Bat-family - which could consist of Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl, and maybe even Catwoman, Azrael, Damian Wayne and ex-Arkham Knight the Red Hood - then the title Batman Arkham Legacy would make sense. Of course, it depends when the game is set - post-Arkham Knight, Barbara Gordon's Batgirl is still in a wheelchair thanks to an attack by the Joker. Still, this is the part that Sabi is certain about - the title, less so.
This title has been floated around for a while as the website domain batmanarkhamlegacy.com was registered by Warner Bros - and is still valid! - as an alternative title for Batman: Return to Arkham, the remastered collection of the first two Arkham games. Up until the site went down, typing it in would redirect to batmanreturntoarkham.com.
UPDATE: Sabi has recently confirmed that Batman Arkham Legacy is an old title that may have been changed by now, but the stuff about the Bat-family being playable is the important part. They also add that they do not know about platforms, announcement date, release date, or even gameplay - although the most likely reveal is The Game Awards in December, which has hosted previous Arkham game reveals.
I should note the title of Arkham Legacy could change. The info is from a bit ago. But the topic of the game (the family and whatnot) are obviously the important element. Not sure when the reveal is. TGAs are plausible, otherwise could he anytime next year
— Sabi (@New_WabiSabi) October 22, 2019
It would certainly be possible for all this to be true - and being able to properly play Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl etc alongside Batman would be a neat way to make the fifth mainline Arkham game feel fresh. It's still absolutely a rumour - and honestly, the domain name being an abandoned name for Return to Arkham hurts the rumour more than helps it, although Sabi admits that the title is the part that is most likely to change.
Still, the next Batman game should be revealed semi-soon now that the official teases have begun, so we shouldn't have long to wait to find out whether this rumour is true or not! And more importantly, will it get in our list of the best Batman games?
