They say patience is a virtue, and if you’re a fan of Rocksteady’s output then you’re going to need a plentiful supply. The Batman: Arkham Asylum developer has confirmed it won’t be heading E3-wards this year. Whatever they’re cooking up in that studio isn’t ready to show just yet.

“Hi all! A number of you have asked so we wanted to let you all know up front that @Rocksteadygames won't be showing at E3 this year,” wrote Sefton Hill, game director and co-founder of Rocksteady. “We’ll be watching as fans but remaining in London, hard at work on our next big project. Enjoy the show!”

Hi all! A number of you have asked so we wanted to let you all know up front that @Rocksteadygames won't be showing at E3 this year. We’ll be watching as fans but remaining in London, hard at work on our next big project. Enjoy the show! — Sefton Hill (@Seftonhill) June 4, 2019

Rocksteady’s previous game was Batman: Arkham Knight in 2015. It was ultimately a solid game let down by an absolutely atrocious PC version. Truly one of the most disastrous PC launches we’ve seen in the modern era.

Four years is a long time in the gaming world though, so Rocksteady must be very deep into whatever project it’s working on. The assumption was that surely Rocksteady would be ready to show something by now, and E3 2019 would’ve been the perfect stage. For whatever reason, they’re not prepared to show what they’re cooking up yet. Perhaps Rocksteady doesn’t want to risk potentially being overshadowed by Marvel’s Avengers, but who knows.

Previous leaks have suggested Rocksteady is working on some sort of Justice League or Suicide Squad game, primarily as some sort of Games as a Service (GaaS) offering. Taking that into account, releasing a GaaS title this late into the console lifespan seems a bit a daft, so we wouldn’t be surprised if Rocksteady is taking a little extra time to flesh out its game ready for the next-gen consoles. We couldn’t end up with that most elusive of beasts - a GaaS title that’s content-rich at launch. Don't laugh, it's got to happen sometime.