The Batman character would overshadow the entire game, according to the Gotham Knights developers at WB Montréal.

Batman will not come back to life in Gotham Knights, and the development team has already made it abundantly clear that he is actually dead. Batman would actually interfere with the narrative that Gotham Knights is attempting to tell, according to WB Montréal.

Executive producer Fleur Marty said that having Batman present "absolutely wouldn't have made it easier at all, because wherever he is, he just takes up all of the space; he takes all of the air out of the room, and so it was so much more interesting to start afresh without him."

Instead, players can enter co-op as one of the four characters investigating the Court of Owls in Gotham City: Nightwing, Red Hood, Batgirl, or Robin.

Lead author Ceri Young continued, "I think [Batman's absence] really drives these characters. There are various points where each finds themselves asking: "If Batman were here, I think this is how he’d handle it." But they don’t have him, and so they have to figure out how to do it their own way, and that’s where a lot of their interest and drive lie.

Marty also talked about what happens during online play if two players pick the same character. Whilst they didn’t spoil it, it’s definitely going to be addressed: I don’t want to spoil anything, but there’s a funny moment in the game if you are playing as two of the same character. We’re giving you complete freedom. "

Gotham Knights is set to launch on October 25 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. Both the PS4 and Xbox One versions of the game have been cancelled.

In other news, the PC port of Marvel’s Spider-Man has been Steam Deck verified by developer Insomniac Games.