For decades, Superman and Batman have dominated the DC video game universe. Meanwhile, Diana Prince, better known as Wonder Woman, waited on the sidelines. Thankfully, that changes soon. Warner Bros. and Monolith Productions (a subsidiary of WB) announced the upcoming Wonder Woman video game at the 2021 Game Awards. While we only have a teaser trailer to go off, Monolith’s past offers us plenty of insight into Wonder Woman’s future. Here’s everything we know about the upcoming Wonder Woman game, which we’ll refer to here on out as Wonder Woman.
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Release Date
Wonder Woman does not have a scheduled release date at this time. However, in looking at other upcoming Warner Bros. releases, it’s reasonable to believe the game won’t be receiving any special attention in 2022. Warner Bros. has Gotham Knights, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, and Hogwarts Legacy slated for 2022. We can expect to see Wonder Woman in 2023 or 2024.
To further speculate, let’s look at Monolith Productions, the studio behind Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War. Specifically, let’s look at a recent hiring campaign conducted in early November 2021. Since releasing Shadow of War, the studio’s been quiet, choosing to focus more on maintaining the game through DLC rather than pursuing an entirely new project. However, a hiring campaign saw the company post 21 open positions for designers, combat and software engineers, and character artists, among other development-related jobs. Several of those postings begin with “Join the Wonder Woman team and help bring an iconic DC Super Hero to life!”
Fast forward about a month later, when Warner Bros. revealed the Wonder Woman teaser at the 2021 Game Awards, with Monolith leading the charge. One can conclude that it’s still in very early development, and likely isn’t happening for another few years.
Platforms
Wonder Woman will presumably release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC when it inevitably comes out. However, a lot could change in the next few years involving a partnership to rival Sony and Marvel.
Marvel vs. DC, Xbox vs. PlayStation — they’re two of the more popular rivalries in the modern era dictating who gets to play what. We’re all aware of Sony’s longstanding partnership with Marvel, as Xbox fans will never get to swing around New York City as their friendly neighborhood SpiderMan. However, if Microsoft partnered with DC, the future of superhero video games could take an unexpected turn. Wonder Woman will be the hero’s first stand-alone title. Since the iconic warrior has a massive following, an exclusive launch could cement her among female-led AAA stories on par with Lara Croft. It would be a massive win for Xbox if they secured the IP.
Rumors floated in the Summer of 2020 that AT&T was looking to sell Warners Bros Interactive to pay down $143 billion worth of debt after acquiring Time Warner in 2018. Microsoft expressed interest in taking Warner Bros of their hands. However, a deal never came to fruition. Microsoft may see Wonder Woman as an opportunity to seize an incredibly popular IP, especially with the popularity of Xbox Game Pass. They already expressed interest once. What’s to stop them from trying again?
Trailer
All players have to go off is the teaser trailer that debuted at the 2021 Game Wards. Warner Bros, DC, and Monolith did a great job of keeping Wonder Woman under wraps, but fans are probably eager to learn more about the upcoming title.
Gameplay
Wonder Woman is a single-player, third-person, open-world, action-adventure game. Players control Diana as she “fights to unite her Amazon family and the humans from the modern world.” Developers say they’re telling an original Wonder Woman story. Fans of the Gal Gadot films or Wonder Woman comics may be in for a treat.
The biggest news to come out of the Wonder Woman announcement is Monolith’s involvement with the production. Monolith is the studio responsible for Middle Earth Shadow: of Mordor and Shadow of War. More importantly, they invented the Nemesis system, which put the Middle Earth games on the map.
Warner Bros. bought Monolith in 2004, long before the Nemesis system ever debuted. After Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War’s success, Warner Bros. finally secured a patent for the Nemesis system in February 2021, thus barring other developers from using it without proper licensing. The process took a grueling five years of submitting and resubmitting before the patent was officially secured.
The Nemesis system features procedurally generated NPCs that work and exist in a hierarchy. They’ll interact with the player and one another while remembering the player’s actions each time they encounter the player. The player’s decisions can alter their appearance and behavior, and their position in the hierarchy can change in relation to other NPCs. This same concept also applies to friendly NPCs, something DC wanted players to know via their YouTube description under the teaser trailer.
“Powered by the Nemesis System, gamers will forge deep connections with both enemies and allies as they progress from a heroic fighter into a proven leader.” – DC.
Multiplayer
According to Warner Bros.’ official description, Wonder Woman is a single-player game. Yes, things could change in the coming years as development gets underway, but if they planned to release a multiplayer game, they probably would have said so.
Monolith’s last game, Shadow of War, featured a loose multiplayer mechanic where players invaded each other’s worlds, attempting to take over their online forts. While Monolith knows how to integrate a multiplayer mechanic within the Nemesis system, doing so for Wonder Woman doesn’t make a ton of sense.
DLC and pre-order
What good is any superhero hero game without downloadable skins? As far as other content is concerned, only time will tell what Wonder Woman provides for DLC. Most single-player games expand their story with new playable areas and missions. For example, Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut did just that with Iki Island.
If Wonder Woman is your favorite superhero, you could put $80 in an envelope and stash it away until 2023 or 2024. By then, we’ll have more information about the game’s release schedule. Currently, there’s no way to pre-order the game in any fashion.
