All Batman Games in Order, by Release and Timeline

Putting all Batman games in order sounds easy until you notice that the Dark Knight lives in several separate universes. The Arkhamverse jumps back and forth in time, the LEGO games run their own goofy continuity, Telltale rebuilt Gotham from scratch, and Gotham Knights opens with Bruce Wayne's death. Release order and story order rarely line up, and the Batman Arkham games in order of release kick off with what is actually the fourth chapter of the story.

This page covers the modern era of Batman games, from 2008's LEGO Batman to 2026's Legacy of the Dark Knight, with the key details, a short breakdown, and our verdict for each one. The table shows where every game sits in its own timeline. If you want to grab any of them on PC, our Batman video games collection has keys for most of these games.

Want the Batman games chronological order for the Arkham story alone? Play Origins, Blackgate, Arkham Shadow, Asylum, City, Arkham VR, Knight, then Suicide Squad. The three Origins-era games all happen within about six months, and Asylum jumps roughly eight years ahead.

1. LEGO Batman: The Videogame (2008)

The first of the LEGO Batman games tells an original story about a mass breakout from Arkham Asylum. Three villain gangs, led by the Riddler, the Penguin, and the Joker, each get a chapter, and Batman and Robin chase them across Gotham. Every hero chapter has a villain twin, where you play the same plot from the other side as Two-Face, Bane, or Harley Quinn, and you need both halves for the full story.

Characters talk in grunts and mime, and the slapstick lands better for it. Puzzles lean on suit swaps, like Batman's Glide and Heat Protection suits or Robin's Magnet suit, and drop-in local co-op makes it an easy couch game for kids and parents. It looks dated now, but the villain chapters still feel fresh.

My Verdict: A charming starting point with clever villain chapters, and still the easiest Batman game to hand a younger player. It's best enjoyed today as part of the LEGO Batman Trilogy.

2. Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009)

Arkham Asylum locks you inside Gotham's madhouse for one very long night. Batman drags the Joker back to Arkham Island, the Joker springs a trap, and the inmates take over the whole facility. Written by Paul Dini and voiced by Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill, the story feels like a lost episode of the animated series, with Scarecrow's hallucination sequences as the standout moments.

This is the game that taught everyone how a superhero game should play. FreeFlow combat, Predator rooms where you stalk armed guards from gargoyles, and Detective Vision all debuted here. The island is compact and gated by gadgets in a Metroid-style layout, so new tools open old doors. The final boss fight is weak, and that's about the only real complaint.

My Verdict: The tightest game in the series and the one that made Batman games matter. Start your first Arkham run here and follow release order.

3. Batman: Arkham City (2011)

Eighteen months after Asylum, a walled-off slice of Gotham has become a mega-prison run by Hugo Strange. Bruce Wayne gets thrown inside, learns about a mystery plan called Protocol 10, and discovers that the Joker is dying from the Titan formula he used in the first game. The plot pulls in Two-Face, Mr. Freeze, Ra's al Ghul, and the Penguin, and the ending is still one of the most talked-about moments in comic book games.

Arkham City opens the series up into a proper open world, with gliding and grappling across rooftops and 440 Riddler trophies to hunt. Combat gets new counters and quick-fire gadgets, and Catwoman gets her own playable chapters, included in the GOTY Edition. It's bigger and busier than Asylum, and a few side quests feel stretched, but almost nothing about the core loop has aged.

My Verdict: One of the best Batman games ever made and the peak of Rocksteady's trilogy for many fans. The GOTY Edition with every DLC is the version to own.

4. LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (2012)

LEGO Batman 2 brings in the wider DC universe. Lex Luthor teams up with the Joker to win his run for president, and Batman ends up working with Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and the rest of the Justice League. The banter between a grumpy Batman and a cheerful Superman carries the whole story.

It was the first LEGO game with full voice acting and the first with an open-world hub, a LEGO Gotham you can fly over freely. Most LEGO games since have followed that template. The open world is a little empty by today's standards, but the character roster is huge, and co-op is as easy as ever.

My Verdict: The LEGO game where the formula clicked. Voice acting and a free-roam Gotham make it the best entry of the original LEGO trilogy.

5. Batman: Arkham Origins (2013)

Arkham Origins is the first game in the Arkham timeline, set about eight years before Asylum. On Christmas Eve, in Batman's second year, Black Mask puts a $50 million bounty on his head and hires eight assassins to collect it. Over one snowy night, a younger and angrier Batman meets the Joker for the first time, and that relationship is the strongest part of the script. Roger Craig Smith and Troy Baker take over the voices of Batman and the Joker.

WB Games Montréal made this one as Rocksteady worked on Knight, and it shows in places. Old Gotham is the same district that later becomes Arkham City; New Gotham across the bridge is the fresh part, and the formula barely changes. Crime-scene reconstruction adds a new layer to detective work, and the multi-phase boss fights against Deathstroke and Bane rank among the series' best.

My Verdict: The underrated entry. It plays it safe, yet the story and boss fights earn it a spot in any Arkham marathon, and it's the natural start for timeline order.

6. Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate (2013)

Blackgate picks up three months after Origins. A riot breaks out at Blackgate Penitentiary, and the Joker, Penguin, and Black Mask each claim a section of the prison. It's Batman's first run-in with Catwoman, who helps him as she chases her own goals. The prison riot sets up Arkham Shadow, which goes back to Blackgate just three months later.

This is a 2.5D side-scroller with Metroidvania structure, built for handhelds first. Combat and Detective Vision carry over in simplified form, and you can tackle the three wings in any order. The map is confusing, and backtracking gets tedious. The Deluxe Edition fixed some of that, so it's the version to pick on PC.

My Verdict: A curiosity for completionists and timeline fans. It fills a story gap, but it's the weakest Arkham game to actually play.

7. LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham (2014)

Beyond Gotham takes the LEGO series into space. Brainiac starts shrinking Earth to add it to his collection of tiny planets, and Batman joins forces with the Justice League and even some of his villains to stop him. The story travels to the Watchtower and the Lantern Corps worlds, and Adam West and Kevin Smith are playable as themselves.

The roster runs past 150 characters, and suit swaps return as a big part of the puzzles. Swapping Gotham for hubs like the Moon and the Hall of Justice makes it feel less like a Batman game and more like a general DC one. Fans of LEGO collectathons will still sink hours into it.

My Verdict: Fun and packed with fan service, but Batman ends up as one hero among many. Play it after LEGO Batman 2 if you want more of the same.

8. Batman: Arkham Knight (2015)

Arkham Knight closes Rocksteady's trilogy nine months after City. On Halloween night, Scarecrow forces the evacuation of Gotham with a fear toxin threat, and a mysterious armored soldier called the Arkham Knight leads a militia against Batman. The writing goes deep into Bruce's head, and the Joker plays a role that's best experienced without spoilers.

The big addition is the Batmobile, which drives, transforms into a tank, and plays a part in puzzles and boss fights. Some players love it, and some feel the game leans on it too often. Everything else, from the combat to the dual takedowns to Gotham itself, is the series at its most polished. The PC launch was so broken that WB pulled it from sale for months, and the patched version is what you get.

My Verdict: The best-looking and best-playing Arkham game, held back only by too many tank fights. Get it in the Arkham Collection alongside Asylum and City.

9. Batman: The Telltale Series (2016)

Telltale's first Batman season spends as much time with Bruce Wayne as with Batman. A secret about Thomas Wayne's ties to Carmine Falcone wrecks the family name, Oswald Cobblepot returns as Bruce's old friend turned enemy, and Harvey Dent's slide toward Two-Face plays out across five episodes. Troy Baker voices Bruce.

You make choices in conversation and decide how to handle scenes as Batman or as Bruce, and the story bends to fit. Action uses quick-time events, and detective scenes let you piece evidence together. Launch bugs hurt the first episodes, and some choices matter less than they seem, but the writing takes real risks with Batman lore.

My Verdict: The best pick if you care more about Bruce Wayne than about combat. Play it before The Enemy Within, since your choices carry over.

10. Batman: Arkham VR (2016)

Arkham VR puts the cowl on your own head. Robin goes missing, and Nightwing turns up dead, and you follow the trail from a Gotham alley to the Iceberg Lounge, the city morgue, and the sewers. It's set a few weeks before Arkham Knight, and the ending twist leaves you wondering how much of it really happened.

You get a batarang, a grapnel gun, and a forensic scanner, and you spend the game scanning evidence and rewinding crime-scene reconstructions, with no fights at any point. Movement uses fixed teleport points, and most players finish it in an evening. Suiting up in the Batcave in first person is still one of the best intros in VR.

My Verdict: A short, clever detective tech demo. Worth it if you have a headset, though Arkham Shadow is the full VR game.

11. Batman: The Enemy Within (2017)

The Enemy Within picks up the Telltale story about a year after season one. Amanda Waller's agency forces Bruce to go undercover inside the Pact, a crew that includes the Riddler, Harley Quinn, Bane, and Mr. Freeze. The heart of the season is John Doe, a former Arkham patient who sees Bruce as his best friend.

Your choices decide what kind of Joker John becomes: a vigilante with his own warped sense of justice or a villain teaming up with Harley for revenge. That split gives the final episode real weight and makes a second playthrough worth it. Pacing and action both improved over season one.

My Verdict: Telltale's best work and the finest Joker origin story in games. Play season one first to feel the full payoff.

12. Gotham Knights (2022)

Gotham Knights opens with Batman's death and hands the city to his protégés. Batgirl, Nightwing, Red Hood and Robin investigate the Court of Owls, a secret society that has controlled Gotham for centuries. The game sits outside the Arkham continuity, so the four heroes and their relationships are built from scratch.

It's an action RPG with loot, levels, and gear crafting, and you can swap between the four heroes at the Belfry. Two-player online co-op lets you patrol with a friend. Combat feels floaty next to the Arkham games, and the console versions run at 30fps. The Court of Owls story and the four leads carry it further than the systems do.

My Verdict: A decent co-op Batman-family game with a weak combat core. Worth it on sale if you have a partner to play with.

13. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League (2024)

Rocksteady's Suicide Squad is set in the Arkhamverse five years after Arkham Knight. Brainiac invades Metropolis and brainwashes the Justice League, and Amanda Waller sends four criminals to take out Superman, The Flash, Green Lantern, and Batman. It's Kevin Conroy's final performance as Batman, and his scenes are the best part of the story.

It's a live-service looter shooter, which makes it the odd one out in this list. Traversal is a joy, but the missions repea,t and the loot grind wears thin. Season 4 arrived in December 2024 with an offline mode for the campaign, and Rocksteady ended support after the final story update in January 2025.

My Verdict: Only for Arkham completionists who want to see how the timeline ends. Pick it up cheap and treat it as an epilogue.

14. Batman: Arkham Shadow (2024)

Batman: Arkham Shadow is a full Arkham game in VR, set six months after Origins and three months after Blackgate. A cult leader called the Rat King plans an attack on Gotham on the Fourth of July, and Batman goes undercover as Matches Malone inside Blackgate Penitentiary to stop him. Harvey Dent and Jim Gordon are among the targets.

FreeFlow combat comes back with gesture controls, and Predator stealth, Detective Vision, and gadgets all work in first person. The structure feels a lot like Arkham Asylum, with a compact prison to backtrack through. It won Best AR/VR Game at The Game Awards 2024, and it's a Quest exclusive, so you need a Meta Quest 3 or 3S to play.

My Verdict: The best VR superhero game around and a true Arkham entry. If you own a Quest 3, this is the first thing to buy.

15. LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight (2026)

The newest of the LEGO Batman games retells Bruce Wayne's story, from his training with the League of Shadows to becoming Gotham's protector. Warner Bros. Games announced it at Gamescom 2025, and the plot borrows from decades of Batman films, shows and comics. The Joker, Penguin, Bane, Two-Face and Mr. Freeze all appear.

Gotham is fully open, with gliding, grappling and the Batmobile. Combat takes heavy cues from the Arkham FreeFlow system, made friendlier for younger players. Seven characters are playable, including Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl, Catwoman, Jim Gordon and Talia al Ghul, and local co-op is back. The Mayhem Collection DLC added the Joker and Harley Quinn as playable characters on September 18.

My Verdict: The best LEGO game in years and a great Batman game in its own right. Play it with a friend on the couch.

FAQs About Batman Games

Final Words

Batman games in release order tell the story of a genre growing up. Arkham Asylum proved a licensed superhero game could stand next to the best action games of its year, and FreeFlow combat has turned up in plenty of games since. The timeline matters less here than in most series, since only the Arkhamverse asks you to track who did what and when.

For a quick start, pick one game per style. Arkham Asylum is the best entry point for the core series, and Legacy of the Dark Knight is the pick for co-op on the couch. For story, go with the two Telltale seasons back to back. Arkham Shadow is the must-buy for anyone with a Quest headset.

Nobody outside Warner Bros. knows what comes next. The publisher hasn't announced a new Arkham game, and reports about Rocksteady's next Batman project remain unconfirmed. Until something official lands, the Arkham trilogy and the new LEGO game are the best ways to spend a night in Gotham.

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