Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s Supply Drops Feel Like a Relic of Live-Service Past

Highlights

• Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League incorporates live-service features, such as a seasonal battle pass and an always-online requirement, similar to other popular live-service games.
• While not actual loot boxes, Kill The Justice League’s supply drops mimic the mechanics and feel of loot boxes, raising concerns among players that the game could eventually follow problematic pay-to-win practices and let players purchase them.
• However, that seems unlikely, as they are only earnable right now and Rocksteady has said that no pay-to-win content will be added.

While Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League may continue the Batman: Arkham franchise, it does so in quite a different style. Instead of being a singleplayer action-adventure, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is a third-person co-op shooter. In addition to that shift, players can expect a plethora of live-service features, including a seasonal battle pass and an always-online requirement. Plus, it feels like the game is playing host to a controversial feature from live-service games of the past, albeit in a less problematic form.

Since Star Wars: Battlefront 2, the concept of the loot box has been on its way out. Not only did players grow increasingly critical of the mechanic, but many countries also pushed to regulate it. So, studios have been going after Fortnite‘s seasonal structure instead, with even Overwatch 2 completely stripping the loot box feature out of the game. However, it seems like loot boxes may still be lingering in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League‘s supply drop mechanic.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Seems to Bring the Loot Box Concept Back to Life

Suicide Squad’s Supply Drops Explained

In Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, one of the main ways to earn new gear is via the game’s supply drop mechanic. After every mission, the Penguin will send Task Force X a supply drop filled with random equipment. The pod will hit the ground, blink for a couple of seconds, and then open to reveal what players have earned. Usually, they are rewarded with some guns, melee weapons, or shield mods. However, they really have no control over what they get, and instead must rely on a randomized loot system. If they want that control, then they can go craft some weapons instead.

Depending upon the task players complete, they may be compensated with more than one supply drop. Most of the time, they will only be rewarded one per normal mission, but they can earn up to three following Suicide Squad boss fights or longer quests. As they progress through the story, these supply drops will include even more types of weapons or gear, as long as they have finished the prerequisite side quest. Additionally, they can also be awarded elite-level Notorious weapons, which are themed after iconic supervillains.

Suicide Squad’s Supply Drops Feel Like Loot Boxes in a New Form

As of now, Suicide Squad‘s supply drops cannot be purchased with real world currency, and it does not seem like Rocksteady has plans for that to happen, but they still look and feel eerily similar to the loot box system of the past. The opening animation seems ripped straight from other games’ loot boxes, the randomization feature is exactly how these microtransactions worked, and the contents inside feel just like something Star Wars: Battlefront 2 would have offered. While they are not loot boxes, they function like them in all but name.

There is a chance that these supply drops were initially designed to be a loot box system, since Suicide Squad took nine years to come out. In those nine years, the concept became insanely popular only to die off in favor of the battle pass system. Even though that will be impossible to prove without an official word, the supply drops do at least feel like they were inspired by loot boxes.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League‘s supply drops are just one of the many live-service mechanics that this game has to offer. So far, those concepts have proven a bit controversial with the fan base. But future Suicide Squad updates have the chance to liven things up a bit, especially as Rocksteady adds new characters to the roster. And through it all, hopefully these supply drops remain a free source of loot, because otherwise, the game would be following in the footsteps of problematic pay-to-win experiences.