It is not uncommon for video games to be released with premium editions or special passes for DLC content, and a recent announcement from Warner Brothers Interactive about the long-awaited Batman: Arkham Knight will be no exception. An announcement that Warner Brothers made about its special editions of Batman: Arkham Knight, just after its announcement for Dual Play mode (allowing players to control two heroes at the same time) has caused quite a controversy as the new premium edition details for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
According to Gotta Be Mobile, there is a premium edition that includes the game and a transforming Batmobile statue for $199. IGN also reports that Batman: Arkham Knight Premium addition is a combination of the Season Pass and a standard copy of Batman: Arkham Knight that will cost $99. Since the Batman: Arkham Knight Season Pass will cost about $40, and the actual Batman: Arkham Knight game will cost $60, then this Premium Edition really isn't giving players anything as the two packages combined are about the same price. This has caused a lot of fury amongst gamers.
The Batman: Arkham Knight Season Pass is promised to bring six months of gaming content to the players that includes: "new story missions, additional super-villains invading Gotham City, legendary Batmobile skins, advanced challenge maps, alternative character skins and new drivable race tracks." Some have felt that the content from the Season Pass should be part of the original game itself, and the extra money they have to fork over makes them feel slightly ripped off, especially for those who pre-ordered Batman: Arkham Knight.
As we have reported before, Batman: Arkham Knight is a long awaited conclusion to the Batman: Arkham series. The first game in the series was Batman: Arkham Asylum. Debuting in 2009, the extremely dark take on the DC Universe iconic character was met with many accolades, including Game of the Year on several lists. Its sequel Batman: Arkham City came out in 2011, and was also well-received, setting up for a trilogy. What came out in 2013 was Batman: Arkham Origins, which is set up as a prequel to the series. The trilogy will now conclude with Batman: Arkham Knight.
This major spoiler of Batman: Arkham Knight occurred as a Limited Edition statue could have revealed a major plot point. According to IGN, there was a picture of a statue alongside an Amazon UK listing for the game's limited edition. On the base of the statue, which shows the Dark Knight standing over Gotham, it reads: "from a grateful city in memory of the Gotham Knight". Okay, this seems to imply that Batman, the Dark Knight detective, is going to die sometime at the end of the Arkham trilogy.
Since Batman: Arkham Knight is the last in this best-selling series of the video game franchise, it does make sense that Batman will meet his fate. However, if history teaches one thing, Batman cannot be killed. In the classic comic-book Frank Miller story The Dark Knight Returns, Batman dies after an epic confrontation with Superman. It is soon revealed that Bruce Wayne's heart just stopped, and started up again, and Superman is able to detect a heartbeat at Bruce's funeral. The last Christopher Nolan movie The Dark Knight Rises has a similar set-up as Batman has to sacrifice himself to stop an atomic bomb from blowing up the city, only to be seen at the end by Alfred to be eating comfortably in a café with Catwoman.
In other words, it would not surprise me if Batman: Arkham Knight ended in such a way where it is believed that Batman is dead, but then is actually still alive to fight crime some other day. Whatever the case, the Amazon UK entry has been altered so the base of the statue is pretty generic, but it still has the product description that still reads: "an imposing Batman memorial statue commemorating Gotham's protector, the Dark Knight".
You can see and play it for yourself as Batman: Arkham Knight will have a release date of June 23, 2015 to the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, as well as PC platforms. It was originally intended to be released on October 14 of last year, but Rocksteady Studios really wanted to make it something good, and announced a June 2nd release date for this year. I think we can be pretty certain that Batman: Arkham Knight will show up on June 23, 2015.
