The finest video video games are imaginary. Often they exist fully in our heads, or within the dreamy area between their preliminary announcement and what we end up enjoying. This is the place “Arkham World” exists. Born from a 2011 Video Game Awards gag, the fully fictitious entry within the massively well-liked Batman Arkham collection is now all some followers can speak about.
Earlier this month, posts a couple of supposed Arkham World started taking up the Batman Arkham subreddit. Despite being devoted to an getting older single-player collection, this specific web watering gap stays surprisingly lively. It has over 150,000 members, with lots of or extra lively at any given time. “This subreddit is devoted to the dialogue of all Batman Arkham Lore,” reads the subscription. “Including the Rocksteady Trilogy, Arkham Origins and all tie-in video games and comics, together with the Newest Edition Arkham World.”
Arkham World isn’t actual, however that didn’t cease the subreddit from celebrating the one-year anniversary of its launch on August 2. “I cherished the open world on this recreation essentially the most as a result of it was a literal world,” Reddit consumer FrozeninIce248 wrote. “A world stuffed with criminals and insane folks and the up to date gameplay from Arkham Knight makes this recreation the most effective superhero recreation of all time.”
Dozens of different commenters responded with their very own essential takes, sharing their favourite moments and largest surprises. “Dude I’m at present excessive at a Rob zombie live performance and I’m 90% positive that this recreation isn’t actual and I’m scared to know whether it is,” learn one remark buried deep among the many essential reward.
The one-year anniversary was simply the beginning of Arkham World’s weeks-long tribute. The lore round it has since expanded to incorporate a particular mission the place you play as Alfred, a crossover with Spider-Man, and even a Darth Vader boss combat. Players from the Spider-Man group have even joined in, treating the crossover as canon. Reddit is filled with shitposting, nevertheless it’s nonetheless uncommon to see followers rally so aggressively round a bit and preserve it for weeks. So why go to all the difficulty to manifest a recreation that by no means existed?
FrozeninIce248 instructed Kotaku in a Reddit chat that they stole the concept from the Titanfall group, the place pretending that Titanfall 3 already exists is an ongoing a part of the subculture. The title Arkham World, in the meantime, was an apparent selection because it was a codename teased by The Joker in a cutscene created by Rocksteady for him to declare the most effective character award on the 2011 VGAs. The eventual recreation that was launched was Arkham Knight, leaving “Arkham World” free to fill the void in gamers’ creativeness after they had no precise Batman recreation to stay up for within the close to future.
In the forthcoming recreation Gotham Knights, made by Warner Bros. Montreal, the studio behind Arkham Origins, Batman is already useless. It’s additionally not technically a part of the Arkham-verse. Rocksteady’s subsequent mission, Suicide Squad, is ready in the identical world because the Arkham video games, however Batman hasn’t been revealed to be a part of it, and it’s a shooter relatively than a stealth brawler.
“Suicide Squad is ready in the identical universe however will not be centered round Batman in any respect, we don’t even know if he’s going to look in any respect,” Reddit consumer BigSexy17 instructed Kotaku. “r/ArkhamGames and Arkham Fans in General gravitated in direction of the collection due to Batman, Batman followers all all over the world reward and worship these video games because the true Batman Experience.”
Now unleashed, Arkham World has taken on a lifetime of its personal. “You have this complete group of individuals claiming that we’re all speaking a couple of recreation that ‘doesn’t exist,’” Unhappyworker77 stated.
Reddit consumer LukeDBZ2 in contrast it to the fascination with the Morbius meme “it’s Morbin’ time” from earlier this summer time. It was dumb, fantastic, and have become so well-liked it might or could not have satisfied Sony to set tens of millions of {dollars} on fireplace bringing Morbius again to theaters so it may bomb a second time. “Morbius by no means stated ‘it’s Morbin’ time’ and there’s not a sequel to Arkham Knight…or is there?” they stated. “One factor is confirmed tho, after years of no new content material, the sub has grew to become the Arkham Asylum itself.”
There’s additionally precedent for Arkham World in different fandoms. When Elden Ring went years throughout growth with no new particulars, some followers feared the worst. As with Titanfall, The Elden Ring subreddit at one level began pretending the sport had already been launched, making up well-known boss battles and extra. “It exists as a result of the followers starve [for] content material and loved the time after they anticipated the discharge of the following Arkham title,” TheXpender instructed Kotaku.
The shitposting continues to be going, and even resulted in some Reddit customers making an attempt to spin Arkham World off into its personal subreddit. Some followers wish to offload the memes there. “If we’re going to flood the sub with extra Arkham World and fewer precise posts about the true video games, then it ought to all be moved to its personal sub r/Arkhamworld,” wrote Fanboyxxx. “We do must take a step again and take into consideration what we’re doing, and truthfully, if it’s intelligent and amusing it’s good with me, simply depart it by itself sub now.”
But that doesn’t appear seemingly. Arkham World was birthed on r/BatmanArkham and that’s the place it should seemingly keep. At least till Gotham Knights, Suicide Squad, or an precise Batman Arkham sequel launches. “Arkham World means the world to me,” Redditor Nadongus instructed Kotaku. “Nothing brings a group collectively fairly like a collective fever dream fueled by incoherent shitposts. I’m out right here having the time of my life.”
