Batman Arkham Shadow lead says fans’ visceral reveal reaction proves the fanbase is “alive” and worth “investing in”

For the past four years, VR developer Camouflaj has worked on Batman: Arkham Shadow, the first official Batman story in the Arkhamverse since 2016’s Arkham VR from Rocksteady. While the game has seen backlash from the wider Arkham community for its VR exclusivity wishing for a flatscreen game, this backlash only fuelled director Ryan Payton to keep moving forward with the title. 

In an interview for VideoGamer, Payton revealed that the backlash of the community only proved Camouflaj right. Throughout development, Payton believed the Arkham community was “alive” and waiting to be serviced by a proper Batman experience again, and they wanted to deliver on that. 

Arkham Shadow proved how alive the fanbase is 

After the failures of Gotham Knights and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Warner Bros is seemingly investing back into the Arkham franchise with new games for the community. However, even before this decision, Payton and his team at Camouflaj pitched a VR game set in the Arkham universe that delivered a true Batman experience, but there was always the expectation that it would be met with internet vitriol.

“It’s alive and it’s worth investing in, it’s worth caring for and these players desperately care.”

ARKHAM SHADOW DIRECTOR RYAN PAYTON ON THE ARKHAM COMMUNITY

“Starting Camouflaj in 2011, announcing our game as a AAA-inspired premium mobile game, Republique, we did face a large amount of backlash. It wasn’t until we announced a PC version of that game [was announced] that our Kickstarter turned around. We barely made it in the last few hours to hit our Kickstarter goal and save the company. So I’m familiar with taking a different route than the official PC console and the challenges that come with that. And so I feel comfortable doing that, obviously.

“When it comes to Arkham Shadow in particular, and the Arkham community, the Arkham community is a community I suspected was very large. And I suspected it was very alive, despite the fact that there hasn’t been an official entry into the Arkham franchise since 2015. You could argue 2016 with Arkham VR, but still we’re talking seven years ago, right? It just feels like it’s alive and it’s worth investing in, it’s worth caring for and these players desperately care.”

Let’s put a smile on that face

Despite the “visceral” reaction to the game’s initial announcement as a VR-exclusive game only available on Meta Quest 3, Payon “went to bed every night with a smile” while watching online content creators rip the game apart before seeing even a hint of gameplay. 

“With every single reaction, whether it was positive and especially if it was negative, it was proving my whole theory – mine and Meta’s and my colleagues – everybody’s theory, that there is a passionate fan base here that cares. If the game had been announced and it was just crickets, like some mobile versions of popular game franchises sometimes come out and people don’t even care to get angry. That would be the worst for us.”

Payton revealed that the response was still “tough” to deal with, especially as other members on the team “took it really personally”. But when the team fought through and got to demo the game to the public at Gamescom 2024, they knew everything was worth it. 

“When we showed the trailer at Summer at Gamescom opening night live, I think that’s when the tide really started to turn. And then the next day we started doing the demos where people got the hands on the game… I could have stayed there for a month if they let me. Having people come throughout the day, just playing and taking off the headset and saying: ‘This is a real video game. I feel like Batman. It looks great, the combat’s great.’ I kid you not, it’s the best experience.”

Despite launching already on Meta Quest 3 and Quest 3S, Camouflaj is far from done with Batman: Arkham VR. Alongside releasing quality of life updates for the VR game, the team is working on new story content, more challenge maps and other goodies for players to enjoy. The game also comes for free with any new purchase of a Quest 3 line headset. 

For more Arkham Shadow content, check out our review where we called it the “third best Arkham game”, and we meant it.