Meta announced Batman: Arkham Shadow last week, which is coming exclusively to Quest 3 in late 2024. And wouldn’t you know it, YouTube users absolutely hate it.

Although YouTube disabled the dislike button counter in 2021, you can still get a good idea of how the public is reacting to any given video by installing an extension to your browser, like Chrome’s ‘Return YouTube Dislike‘.

Released officially through both IGN’s main YouTube channel and Meta’s own YouTube channel (linked below) on May 1st, Batman: Arkham Shadow’s announcement trailer really seems to be racking up the dislikes.

These sorts of browser extensions don’t actually have direct access to the platform’s API, making the number you see more guesswork than anything. Still, it’s pretty clear people aren’t happy with Batman: Arkham Shadow. At the time of this writing, IGN’s video has a 3:11 like-to-dislike ratio, while Meta’s own video has nearly a 1:2 ratio.

And where is the hate coming from? Basically, from the early ’90s until 2017, there’s been a Batman game released nearly every year, with standouts such as Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009), Batman: Arkham City (2011), and Batman: Arkham Knight (2015) garnering a pretty big following across console.

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Then, Batman: Arkham Shadow shows up on the radar, a VR-only game that is exclusive to Quest 3—two things that aren’t communicated to the casual viewer until they physically click on the video. This presents not only a bit of a bait-and-switch for gamers hoping for the next long-awaited Arkham title, but also an all too real sign that Meta is likely phasing out Quest 2 and Quest Pro later this year.

Top-rated comments across the two video releases:

  • “Is there a lore reason why WB hates Arkham fans?” – @ethansolomon2126
  • “Guessing that thousands will see and click for immediate disappointment.” – @angelchang5194
  • “r/Batmanarkham is gonna go insane over this” – @-.Springtrap.
  • “I am vengeance, I am the night, I am exclusively playable on the META Quest 3, I AM BATMAN!” – @Blitzwinger

Hardcore fandom doesn’t always react so viscerally though. When Valve released its announcement trailer for Half-Life: Alyx in late 2019, it was actually universally liked despite being the first Half-Life in 16 years. Valve however went about setting expectations very differently, which may explain at least some of the Batman hate. The PC VR-only game, which had already been subject to rumors in the months leading up, was actually confirmed by Valve nearly a week before its announcement trailer was released. People who clicked on it already basically knew what they were in for.

There’s still plenty to learn though. Besides the fact that it’s being developed by Oculus Studios and Meta-owned developer Camouflaj, the same studio behind Iron Man VR, we still don’t know anything about the game’s scope or narrative. What is certain though is we’re sure to learn more at Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest on June 7 at 2:00 PM PT (local time here).

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Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • Nevets

    People power is a wonderful thing in the Internet era. Perhaps if this lot create enough toxic press about this game, they will stop progress on new hardware altogether!

    • VR5

      Sarcasm? As the article states these dislike counts are neither acurate nor visible to the public.

  • philingreat

    PSVR2 releases only exclusive titles not compatible with PSVR1. No PSVR1 game can be played on PSVR2, no one cares. Meta announces 1 Quest 3 exclusive, people go crazy.

    • ViRGiN

      They are crazy cause it’s not a non-VR game.

    • VR5

      A lot of people cared about lack of PSVR BC. And PSVR2 isn’t doing too hot.

      Also, no one complained that the PSVR1/PS4 cannot play PSVR2/PS5 games, that would be unreasonable.

  • ViRGiN

    That’s only counting people who do hand the plugin, and even then it’s extrapolated from how historically ratios were in general and specific channels.

    Why make an article about this?
    How about focusing on valve achievements on vr? That would be really short article to write.

    How about drama with immersed app, where they force everyone to disconnect all extra monitors to be allowed to use the app, and banning anyone asking about it on Reddit and discord, incl users who are paying for the service.

    What about overlook at metaverse companies and where they are today? Somnium space had zero users in the past few years, yet the company is afloat and they are making somnium r1 headset, which is constantly delayed.

    Maybe cover pimax again? They are locking headsets until their demands are met. They are literally bricking people’s headsets.

    But no, this is the article.. tell me the last time public was amazed by game that was releasing for vr

    • Guest

      Mr. Newell is busy funding brain reading technology, unfortunately. The guy that Steam lovers worship.

    • Mateusz Jakubczyk

      Yeah, it’s crazy, man. During the 8 years of PCVR’s existence, Valve has released only one headset and only one game (not counting Labs), constantly making money on its store, and yet everyone loves them. Meta (formerly Oculus/Facebook) carried the entire PCVR on its back for many years, released several great games (Lone Echo 1/2, Asgard’s Wrath 1/2, Stormland), released 8 the most affordable headsets supporting PCVR, currently 70% SteamVR users use their headsets, and yet all the haters think that PCVR is dying because of the Meta…

  • Dragon Marble

    Those dislikes is a good thing. The purpose of funding a game like this is to reach the mass market. It is already working.

    • VR5

      Yeah, even if most (of the vocal) reactions are negative, any new customer increases the install base. And if they come away pleased with their experience that will create good word of mouth.

      That’s why it makes sense for Meta to invest in high quality content for their platform.

      • Christian Schildwaechter

        Making the majority hate you isn’t a good strategy to make them join your side. Don’t expect too many Batman fans to get a Quest just to be able to play Arkham Shadows, but expect a lot of them to talk shit about VR for years.

        Much of the anger was caused by people feeling click baited, expecting a game they could play, only to find out they can’t. A lot of Half-Life fans were initially very angry about HL:A being VR exclusive too, but cooled down because it was designed as a expansion, not a main game, and because HL:A turned out to be excellent with a lot of mechanics specific to VR that made a flat version unfeasible.

        If Arkham Shadow can provide a much richer experience than without VR, then maybe some Batman fans will be converted. Not just “more immersion”, but something impossible without an HMD. If like RE4 on Quest it turns out a very decent VR game, but not exactly a revolution, the backslash will be mostly negative due to Meta “stealing” the franchise with their money. And there are already more than enough people reacting with “I’ll never use anything involving Facebook/Meta” to anything Quest.

        • namekuseijin

          flatlanders have been crapping their diapers over VR for years now. It’s all more fun with a snotty nose…

        • VR5

          HL: A is a main game, it takes up and kind of resolves the episode 2 cliffhanger. You’re of course free to give your opinions here but none of what you wrote is based in fact. You have no objective measure to tell how much damage those backlashes really inflict. In the end, people who aren’t buying VR are still not buying VR. It doesn’t matter.

          But there will be Batman fans who will buy a Quest 3 for this game and more importantly, Quest 3 has another high profile game in a rich library of these games. It makes more and more sense to buy into the ecosystem. This is a fact, not opinion.

  • gothicvillas

    Good! Let them taste their own medicine. That’s how i feel looking at countless NON VR clips.

    • Markis

      Are you, perhaps, mentally ill? This isn’t being funded by the company who made the prior Batman games. It is literally being paid for by Meta, otherwise it would simply not exist.

      • Mateusz Jakubczyk

        Relax, he’s just laughing at all these VR haters :P

        • Markis

          Okay, that is a very different way to read that comment but now that you pointed it out that take of the comment makes sense. Wish the phrasing was better though since it can be read several ways.

    • NL_VR

      I enjoy flatscreeners not getting this game more than i dislike its Quest 3 exclusive, actually I dont mind the exclusivity at all in this case

  • Rudl Za Vedno

    The problem I see with exclusivity inside VR niche is that developers are harming themselves and VR as a whole by not releasing games on all possible VR platforms. Batman would likely double or triple sales if it was on Meta, PSVR2 & SteamVR. I just don’t get the logic.

    • shadow9d9

      The only reason this is being made is that FB is losing a ton of money to attract customers. That is it. The point is not to have higher sales.
      And the devs are Meta devs. Your post is total ignorance and lack of brain usage.

      • Rudl Za Vedno

        It’s still hurtfull to VR growth as a whole. I for example own P4/G2/PSVR2 and have zero interest in buying Q3 just because of Batman game, but would buy the game if it were on any other platform.

        • namekuseijin

          go complain to Sony

    • Yeshaya

      I think there’s 2 considerations:
      1) Depending on the language, it’s much more work to develop for both Quest and PCVR, like it’s not a relatively straightforward port. I *think* some languages lend themselves better to intra-VR ports, hopefully those get more popular. But it’s not trivial to made a Quest, PSVR2, and PCVR version
      2) Meta wants to sell headsets. If the game is available on other platforms, people are less inclined to buy their headsets. But if they can get Star Wars fans via Tales from the Galaxy’s edge, Resident Evil fans through the ReSi 4 port, AC fans through Assassin’s Creed Nexus, and Batman fans through this Arkham game, that’s a bunch of good reasons for them to keep it exclusive.
      If this was the only issue I think price tiers could actually work well. $30 for the Quest 3 version, and $60 for the other ones to make up for their lack of hardware sales.
      Personally I’m going to buy this cause I have a Q3 and I love Arkham, but I am frustrated that a batman game is going to have to have graphics that’ll probably be worse than Arkam Knight’s. Would really love a PCVR option just to max out the graphics, though at least making it Q3 exclusive should make it a bit better than Nexus.

    • Andrew Jakobs

      The logic, Meta paid for development of the game. That’s why we also don’t see these other excellent Star Wars VR games on SteamVR.

  • FullMetal3000

    Quest standalone? Yea it’s gonna be lame

    • ViRGiN

      PCVR Arkham VR peaked at 198 concurrent users in 2017.
      How is that possible for the ever growing PCVR market? All they want to play is Gorilla Tag?

  • Yeshaya

    Another consideration is how blue balled Arkham fans have been over the past decade since Arkham Knight released in 2015.
    First was Gotham Knights in 2022. Basically another Arkham game, with coop! Sounds amazing! But it’s just a shoddy live service game with worse stealth and worse combat and the Fortnite glider where you need to unlock things four times each.
    Then Suicide squad in 2024. From Rocksteady! In the Arkham universe*! And it’s a ridiculous looter shooter with no similarities to Arkham at all beyond Kevin Conroy (RIP).
    And now another Arkham game is announced! With Arkham in the title! And it’s Quest 3 exclusive, so it’s only available to a subsection of a subsection of a subsection of gamers. So I get the frustration from the vast majority of gamers who can’t play it.

    • ViRGiN

      It’s not frustration. It’s acting privilaged. They need to get a job and get on with times. Not everything is meant for everyone for every platform imaginable.

    • Average Gamer

      First was actually Batman: Arkham Underworld in 2016 (mobile games), and then there was the original Arkham VR games in 2017

      • Yeshaya

        You’re absolutely right, it’s worse than I thought, no wonder the arkham sub turned into what it did. I think I own the original Arkham VR game, haven’t tried it yet

        • Average Gamer

          The original Arkham VR game was okay… Not worth the money, and could be completed in like 30 minutes… But this was back in 2017, so most vr games were just short visual experiences more than actual games.

          Hopefully this one is an actual game tho.

  • Salty bitterness from a gaming method passed.
    Wake-up to VR, you 2D losers!!
    HAHAHAHAHA!!
    #LetsGoRangers
    []^ )

  • eadVrim

    Teenagers and lazy people sometimes have to get up from their couch to move their bodies in VR.

  • vancleefmustache

    It’s almost like negativity towards a specific VR game or headset is negative towards the entire VR industry. Imagine that.

    That said, there is only so much you can do with a game that is stuck on a mobile standalone headset. I am glad that they are now doing games that are exclusive to Quest 3 and not Quest 2. I am very much looking forward to what it is capable of on its own.

  • VR Anon Dev

    I say this as a developer, people are very angry with VR itself, and it is Sony’s fault, which the two times it launched a VR product, launched with cable and treating the product as a gadget, the goal will have a colossal job to put in people’s minds the idea that VR is no longer a gadget but a video game console that can offer superior experience due to immersion.

    • ViRGiN

      Noone should have ever treated PSVR2 seriously until they actually have proven themselves.
      There was near zero reason to ever get excited about it.
      Adaptive triggers and head vibrator isn’t really that innovative when it’s nearly exclusively paired with years old software.

    • ApocalypseShadow

      Totally ridiculous.

  • JB1968

    And they are right. The game will ends up as yet another mobile exclusive 45hz crap same as AC.
    Fortunately it’s only Facebook’s money that will be burning again. Though nothing to envy Zuckerberg when he’ll be explaining the bright future of mobile spyware goggles next time on the shareholders meeting.

    • ViRGiN

      You 2 years ago:
      As usually, mobile grade graphics, low-poly models, low-res textures with blurry bilinear filtering, poor/no lighting, absent shaders, bad refresh rate with stuttering – this will always be the Quest game look and feel. Otherwise these comparisons can only show how much was the PC port lazy (or not), nothing more. Oh, maybe also if the Quest look is bad or even worse.

      What a sad trend in VR games quality. After 5+ years of playing hundreds of VR games I simply can’t think positive about the current state of VR entertainment screwed by Facebook dumping. Looks like only Sony’s money can bring us something playable in the near future.Yeah, sad but true.
      —

      Your entire profile is nothing but being butthurt at Meta absolutetly winning and dominating any market.
      You gotta realize that it is the STEAM that is holding you back my friend.

      • JB1968

        While your narrative here is very much pure Meta fanboyism and Steam hate I don’t care neither about Steam or Meta. I’m not using anything from those platforms anymore. But you being happy about “Facebook winning and dominating” is like adoring Nokia for best-seeling mobile phones in the world.

        • ViRGiN

          Ok

  • Well, honestly there was also a lot of backlash for Half-Life: Alyx…

    • ViRGiN

      Especially from pricks like me!

      • ViRGiN

        I never complained about announcement. I complained about how pathetic the game was upon release, and criticized valve index exclusive home environments.

        How’s breadly?

  • Erick The Diver

    Cry about it! It’s very much needed for VR, got leaked 2 years ago so it doesn’t come as a surprise, and it’s not made by the same developers as the last games.

    • Mateusz Jakubczyk

      These VR haters have their heads so far up their asses that they somehow missed this.