Since 1940, Batman has been all about saving people.  Ironically, in the world of video games, the Dark Knight needed a bit of rescuing of his own.  After a string of terrible Batman games by various developers, Rocksteady Studios heroically swept in, pulling Bats out of his slump with the brilliant Batman: Arkham Asylum.  The game was a hit on every level, garnering the best reviews of any super hero game ever, and selling around 3 million copies to date.  To reward Rocksteady for its timely save, Warner Bros. Interactive has announced its purchase of a majority stake in the studio.

Speaking about the acquisition, Jamie Walker, studio director, stated, "We are proud to strengthen our association with WBIE, a world class publisher that we have enjoyed working with since we began developing Batman: Arkham Asylum.” adding "The Rocksteady team is very much looking forward to creating more great games based on widely recognized Warner Bros. brands like Batman."

 While WBIE is now the majority shareholder, Square Enix Europe (Eidos) still retains a 25% share in the company.  Rocksteady is hard at work on the follow-up to Arkham Asylum, but after that, it seems that they’ll be free to work on other WB properties, like the entirey of the DC Universe.  After seeing the amazing job they’ve done with the caped crusader, there’s sure to be a lot of gamers clamoring for a Rocksteady-developed Superman title.  I’d be one of those gamers.

[Press Release]