Warner Bros Interactive has wasted no time in making sure that they will have a major stake in the future of the Batman Arkham Asylum franchise by buying the majority stake in developer Rocksteady. While the terms have yet to be disclosed of the purchase of the privately owned developer, the purchase gets Warner the exclusive distribution rights for the next chapter in the Batman Arkham Asylum franchise.

The developer has already announced that they are hard at work on a sequel, which is currently known as Batman Arkham Asylum 2. The first Batman Arkham Asylum title did quite well for Rocksteady and earned the studio much acclaim as well as several awards. The first Batman Arkham Asylum title has sold over 3 million copies worldwide since release.

The decision is quite logical for Warner, who will be able to leverage other comic book properties that they have access to and be able to have them developed by a studio that already has a proven track record in the design of such titles. In addition, the decision gains Warner the distribution rights to the future Rocksteady-developed titles, which could be very valuable. Warner continues to expand their development capabilities and puts the publisher on the map as a force moving forward.