Suicide Squad’s Alpha Test NDA Lifted After Negative Previews

Rocksteady and WB Games are doing something odd. They are partially lifting the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) surrounding a previous alpha test of the upcoming Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League following a load of mixed and negative previews.

Earlier this week, numerous outlets and content creators across the web posted their hands-on previews of Rocksteady’s open-world co-op looter-shooter supervillain game, Suicide Squad. While some outlets and folks were positive about the upcoming DC game, many more complained of its clunky combat, bad traversal controls, boring missions, live-service annoyances, bland loot, generic action, and a lack of mechanical diversity with each team member. Now, a few days later, Rocksteady is seemingly trying to shift the narrative around its oft-delayed co-op game.

On January 11, Rocksteady announced that it was partially lifting the NDA surrounding a November 2023 alpha test of Suicide Squad. Specifically, players are now free to openly talk online about the early section of the game they played last year.

“Now that there is more news out on the game and players are asking, we’re no longer enforcing a portion of the NDA,” Rocksteady explained, “And we’re allowing players to talk about their experience from the Closed Alpha Test. We’ve heard the community requests and want to give players an opportunity to discuss what it’s like to explore Metropolis as Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, and King Shark.”

Kotaku has contacted Rocksteady and WB Games.

Rocksteady made it clear that the rest of the NDA still applied, asking players to not share any images or videos from the closed test.

Why is Rocksteady lifting the alpha NDA now?

It’s an interesting move by Rocksteady, but one that makes sense. The recent previews weren’t glowing, and many, myself included, heard that a lot of folks who got a chance to play a large chunk of the game in November enjoyed it. But those players couldn’t freely discuss the Suicide Squad alpha test due to the NDA restrictions.

Now, Rocksteady really wants those players to start posting online about how much fun they had playing Suicide Squad, likely to present an alternative to the mixed previews from earlier in the week.

Will it work? Perhaps. At the very least, it’s nice that these players will be able to freely share their experience playing the alpha without fear of lawyers or legal issues.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League launches on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on February 2.

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