Exclusive: The Russian language version of Gotham Knights is canceled due to the Ukrainian Invasion

Sorry Ruskies, No Batman For You :(

The official Russian language version of Gotham Knights is officially down.

UPDATE AT BOTTOM: PS4/Xbox One Port Changes noted.

Russian gamers will not be getting a localization of the new Batman game, Gotham Knights when it releases later this year. According to some individuals familiar with Warner Brothers Montreal, the upcoming Batman game, "Gotham Knights," the Russian-language version has been canceled due to the political fallout from the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Other language versions are still coming out as planned, however.

The Russian language version is canceled, and those resources are going elsewhere to prepare the game for its October 25th release date.

To get confirmation I spoke with some PR people at Warner Bros who are choosing to speak off the record. I then followed the steam page for the game on the Russian side, which shows that there is no language support at all in Russian for the game, not even subtitles.

Rumors about the game being canceled swirled online since March, but now we can officially confirm. Apparently, development with Russian staff and talent was ongoing even a week before the invasion.

In general, as this person told me, Warner Bros is very afraid to upset the gaming press or cause trouble with social media. It’s why they have reacted so quickly to the non-controversy of supposed BatGirl ableism.

I can imagine Russian gamers will be disappointed by this announcement. Gotham Knights is an action RPG spiritual successor to Warner Brother's popular Arkham series. As seen in gameplay trailers, the game looks fantastic. We have not seen a release of a significant Batman game since Batman: Arkham Knight came out seven years ago -has it been that long- in 2015. Gamers had been looking forward to the title's release, and it sucks that it will not see a full global premiere.

It is rumored that the now-canceled port of the PS4 & XboxOne version of the game was at one point being handled by a development studio based in Russia.

Someone else recently reached out to say that this isn’t the case, that the game was being canceled independently of these concerns.

One other person I talked to tells me the PS4 and Xbox One ports had been canceled last year unofficially, and WB was afraid to announce for fear of the backlash that change would cause.

(If you have info or wish to communicate with me, I always protect my sources with the highest discretion. petepischke@protonmail.com)