Not only were Rocksteady and WB Montréal working on a Batman game that didn’t make it to the end of development, but there was also a project being made by another Warner studio.

The development team behind Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor and Middle-Earth: Shadow of War, Monolith Productions, was also working on a Batman game codenamed Project Apollo, which was eventually scrapped by publisher Warner Bros. Interactive. Like the Arkham games, you could have used a grappling hook or glided through the air to move around Gotham City, or used the Batmobile. Elements of the game included detective work, multiple gadgets, stealth, and a combat system inspired by Rocksteady’s games.

The Nemesis system from Monolith’s games would not have been left out. Our enemies would have remembered our previous conflicts, and Project Apollo would have been different from the Batman: Arkham titles, even though many elements were identical. So why did Warner decide to cancel the project? The reason is somewhat ridiculous: Warner felt that it wasn’t a good idea to have two Batman franchises, so they canceled Project Apollo and some of its best ideas (like the Nemesis System) were moved to Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor.

The open world of Gotham could be traversed by either gliding and utilizing the grappling hook (as established in the Arkham games) or by operating the Tumbler/Batmobile. pic.twitter.com/VZKXJBFsgP

— SpideyRanger 🇬🇭 (@Dageekydude) April 3, 2024

Early stealth sequence and combat mechanics (Latter would’ve been based on the Arkham system) pic.twitter.com/18uTxPzKm6

— SpideyRanger 🇬🇭 (@Dageekydude) April 3, 2024

The game would have marked the debut of the “Nemesis System” mechanic, wherein enemies retain memories of encounters. This feature was hopefully to distinguish it from the Arkham franchise despite the other elements shared from it pic.twitter.com/jFh8hjmMME

— SpideyRanger 🇬🇭 (@Dageekydude) April 3, 2024

Warner Brothers didn’t think that having two Batman gaming franchises was a great idea so the Batman game was retooled to a Lord of the Rings project and that’s how we got “Shadow of Mordor” pic.twitter.com/dkfJv2Jvua

— SpideyRanger 🇬🇭 (@Dageekydude) April 3, 2024

Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor was released in the fall of 2014 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360, so Project Apollo was created before that, but considering Rocksteady’s Batman: Arkham Knight arrived in 2015, it might have been better to let Monolith finish the concept. Since then, the world has changed so much that Warner is pushing the live service model. A case in point is Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League, released in February, which was made by Rocksteady, and it’s a huge disappointment after Batman: Arkham Knight!

It’s a shame that Project Apollo didn’t come to fruition in the end.

Source: WCCFTech