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Rocksteady studio heads Sefton Hill & Jamie Walker leave the developer

Hill and Walker founded Rocksteady Studios in 2004 and were still its studio heads until their recent exit.

TJ Denzer

October 26, 2022 10:55 AM

Image via Rocksteady Studios

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Sefton Hill and Jamie Walker founded Rocksteady Studios in 2004. They have held the reins of the developer since as its studio heads, guiding the studio through its first release in Urban Chaos: Riot Response, the highly successful Arkham series, and were still leading it as of the development and announcement of the Suicide Squad game. Unfortunately, the two seem to be moving on from Rocksteady. In a recent announcement from Rocksteady, it was revealed that Hill and Walker were not only resigning from their positions, but leaving the studio as a whole.

Rocksteady revealed this announcement in a letter posted on the studio’s website by WB Games president David Haddad. In the letter, Haddad thanked Sefton Hill and Jamie Walker for their immense contributions to gaming, WB Games, and making Rocksteady what it is today.

“We are very proud to have worked alongside Jamie and Sefton, who have led their talented teams to create some of the best games in the world,” Haddad wrote. “From the critically acclaimed hit Batman Arkham franchise to their evolutionary thinking with Suicide Squad, they have been great leaders of the team.”

With Hill and Walker out at the studio, the question then becomes who takes their place as studio head? The answer is Nathan Burlow, who has been a long time Rocksteady Director of Production and was an original founding member of the studio. Burlow will take over Hill and Walker’s position immediately as Studio Director and on overseeing the development of Suicide Squad, which was revealed at the DC Fandome event in August 2020. Meanwhile, Darius Sadeghian will move up as Rocksteady’s new Studio Product Director.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was delayed to Spring 2023, so there’s a lot of time for the game to keep cooking, though with this major change-up in leadership, we could also see further delays. Stay tuned for more updates and information as it becomes available.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.