New Batman Arkham game confirmed for 2013

Warner Bros. has confirmed that a third entry in the Batman Arkham series will launch in 2013. As part of parent company Time Warner's latest earnings report last week, CFO John Martin said the company's "strong" games release for the year includes a new entry in the series.

"And we also have a strong games release this year, which will include the next release in the Batman Arkham franchise," Martin said. "So all in all, we expect Warners to post another very strong year in 2013. And with a little luck, the year should be as good or maybe even a little bit better than 2012."

Separately, VG247 sources claim this new project is not in development at series creator Rocksteady Studios. That development house is rumored to be working on a stylized prequel that will detail the Dark Knight's first encounter with the Joker. It is not expected until 2014 at the earliest.

Warner Bros. last month registered 15 new Batman domain names, including Arkham Universe, Arkham Legend, Arkham Origins, Arkham Rises, and others.

Batman: Arkham City is the latest entry in the series. It was developed by Rocksteady Studios and shipped for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on October 18, with a PC version following on November 22. The game received a strong critical reception and shipped 6 million units.