Batman: Arkham Asylum Gets New Feature 17 Years After Release
It’s been 17 years since UK studio Rocksteady Studios, combined with Eidos Interactive and WB Games, released Batman: Arkham Asylum, the origin of the Batman: Arkham series, which itself is one of the best series of its time and which is comprised of some of the best superhero games of all time. In fact, it was, at the time, and remains, the pinnacle of DC games. And for those interested in checking it out in 2026, it just got a new feature.
Batman: Arkham Asylum was one of the best games of 2009, as evidenced by its 91 on Metacritic. Its direct sequel, Batman: Arkham City, is the apex of the series, but it’s a very close second. And it holds up surprisingly well in 2026. In particular, the combat, which you can see inspired many games and series that came after it. In fact, you can see traces of Batman: Arkham combat in most modern action-adventure games, at least the ones that involve hand-to-hand fights. Those interested in revisiting it in 2026, or checking it out in 2026, may be interested to know that that it has been updated, and now is Steam Deck Verified. This means Valve has tested its compatability with Steam Deck, and can confirm it works from start to finish, and works well, or at least this is the advertisement of the Verified badge. As users will know, sometimes this badge is given out too leniently.
More precisely, it is the Game of the Year edition on Steam that is now Steam Deck Verified. This is just the game with the four post-launch challenge maps included: Crime Alley, Scarecrow Nightmare, Totally Insane, and Nocturnal Hunter.
A Revolutionary Action-Adventure Game
Batman: Arkham Asylum not only revolutionized action-adventure games when it came out 17 years ago, but its tells a great story. While its successor, Arkham City, is overall the most impressive game in the trilogy, Arkham Asylum arguably has the cooler premise and story. To this end, it is one of the better Batman stories of the last two decades.
According to various reports, after the failed Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Rocksteady Studios is returning to the Batman: Arkham series with a fourth game. That said, it’s understood this game is still far away, so it’s a great time to check out the trilogy, or revisit it, in the meantime. And now that it is Steam Deck Verified, there is another option to revisit the game that started it all.
As for what is specifically different between the Steam Deck version now and previously, we do not know, but whatever update was pushed, it was enough to earn the game the Verified badge, which it did not have before.