Injustice 3 Playtest Rumors Suggest Release Could Be Close

Launching in 2013 before being followed up with a 2017 sequel, Injustice: Gods Among Us was a purposefully brutal and entertainingly grim fighting game that let players use the full scope of characters like Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman in fast-paced brawls. Developed by Mortal Kombat‘s developer NetherRealm Studios, the game was a popular addition to the DC multiverse that went on to inspire plenty of other tie-in material like comic spin-offs and animated adaptations. Despite that popularity, the series hasn’t gotten a formal extension beyond 2017’s launch of Injustice 2.

However, rumors have been swirling that the series is due for a revival with the long-awaited Injustice 3. A new playtest announcement has reinforced that belief, with plenty of players and outlets keeping their fingers crossed for an addition to the franchise. Here’s why fans think it could be a continuation of the fighting game series and how it could play into DC’s larger cross-media franchise plans.

Injustice 3 Might Be Playtesting — And Could Come Out Next Year

A new fighting game is being playtested, and there’s plenty of reason to believe it could be Injustice 3. Originally posted on EventHubs and reported on by Kotaku, it seems that an “unreleased AAA 2D fighting game” is far enough along that players are being given the chance to test it out. The 2D distinction is an important one, as it seems to suggest that the fighting game isn’t a 3D franchise like Virtua Fighter, Dead or Alive, or Tekken. There have also not been any announced AAA fighting games from any major publisher, leaving the possibility that it could be a new title or from another franchise like Street Fighter or Fatal Fury. However, both of those titles have been getting a healthy amount of character additions in recent months, so a whole new game would be a bit of a surprise.

The playtest is also being held in Culver City, a neighborhood in Los Angeles — a city that’s also home to Warner Bros. Discovery. The more likely game is Injustice 3, which NetherRealm has been rumored to be working on for months. It would make sense, given how quickly the DC brand has been revitalized across media by the ascension of James Gunn at the company. Gunn insisted that games would be part of the plan, even potentially as part of a larger shared universe for the franchise. If the game is moving along quickly enough that playtesters are being brought in, the game could even be coming out within the next year or so, just in time for the next batch of DC films as a potential tie-in.

Injustice 3 Could Bring Back One Of DC’s Wildest Realities

Injustice 3 could be a new DC fighting game set in a new reality, which would be a natural extension of the previous game’s multiversal elements. Conversely, the game could continue to expand upon the grim timeline at the core of the previous two games. As established in the first game, this timeline was one where the Joker decided to shift targets and try to break Superman — a mission that pays off with a heartbroken Man of Steel murdering the Joker in cold blood as a form of brutal justice.

This set the stage for a superhero civil war, where Superman’s regime tried to bring world peace by any means necessary while Batman commanded a ragtag resistance movement aimed at returning power to the larger populace. While it was more or less an excuse to let superheroes fight it out, the story became one of the more notable elements of the franchise and became a popular timeline with fans. A continuation of that reality could be used as a parallel to the current DC Universe, solidifying the multiverse that shows like Peacemaker have been establishing. Either way, the rumors of Injustice 3 make it the most likely game for the mysterious AAA playtests — which could mean that the upcoming mobile game DCKO could be getting some competition from its console cousin.