Batman: Arkham Knight

Batman: Arkham Knight

Developers
	Rocksteady Studios
A Matter of Family	Warner Bros. Games Montreal
Windows	Iron Galaxy Studios
Publishers
	Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Engines
	Unreal Engine 3
Release dates
Windows	June 23, 2015
macOS (OS X)	Cancelled
Linux	Cancelled
Reception
Metacritic	70
OpenCritic	86
IGDB	92
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase, DLC
Microtransactions	None
Modes	Singleplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Third-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, Driving, Brawler, Metroidvania, Open world, Stealth
Vehicles	Automobile
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Contemporary, North America
Series	Batman: Arkham

Batman: Arkham
Subseries of Batman
Batman: Arkham Asylum	2009
Batman: Arkham City	2011
Batman: Arkham Origins	2013
Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate Deluxe Edition	2014
Batman: Arkham Knight	2015
Batman: Arkham VR	2017
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League	2024

Batman: Arkham Knight is a singleplayer third-person action, driving, brawler, metroidvania, open world and stealth game in the Batman: Arkham series.

The PC version adds PC-exclusive Nvidia GameWorks Interactive smoke/fog, Interactive paper debris, Enhanced rain and Enhanced light shafts. These options were found to be very taxing on performance. The PC version was removed from stores on June 24, 2015, due to being released in a poor state, with reviewers citing poor performance (mostly because of ineffective streaming of textures and geometry), severe hitching when the game is installed on an HDD, limited in-game graphics options, low resolution texture bugs, missing ambient occlusion, dialed back depth of field, missing transparency layer for raindrops and other rain-related issues. It was then updated to attempt to address most of these issues and subsequently re-released on October 28, 2015. It continued to receive post-launch patches through early 2016 which brought various performance and stability improvements as well as bug fixes.

Following the re-release and subsequent updates, it was announced that the originally planned Mac and Linux versions were cancelled.

Most critical issues seem to have been fixed through post-launch updates. After post-launch support ended, it was noted that an unusually high-end CPU and GPU were still needed to achieve stable performance at higher resolutions. Additional issues that were noted were the game's double-buffered Vsync and traversal in the Batmobile, which caused stuttering.

General information

GOG.com Community Discussions for game series

GOG.com Support Page

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		5 DVD discs.
Epic Games Store		Includes the Premium Edition as well as the previously PS4 exclusive Earth-2 Dark Knight skin. DRM-free when launched directly from an executable.
		Premium Edition also available.
GOG.com		Premium Edition also available, which includes the previously exclusive PS4 Earth-2 Dark Knight skin.
Green Man Gaming		Premium Edition also available.
Humble Store		Premium Edition also available.
Steam		Premium Edition also available. The base game is DRM-free when launched directly from the game executable. For any DLC to be recognized, the game must be launched through the Steam client.
GamersGate (unavailable)		Premium Edition was also available.

Denuvo Anti-Tamper DRM was removed from the Steam version on December 3, 2020.

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Season Pass
A Matter of Family
Harley Quinn Story Pack	Included with retail copies.
Red Hood Story Pack
Prototype Batmobile Skin
Batman Classic TV Series Batmobile Pack
1st Appearance Batman Skin
Batman: Noel Skin
Bat-Family Skin Pack
1989 Movie Batmobile Pack
Crime Fighter Challenge Pack #1
Crime Fighter Challenge Pack #2
Crime Fighter Challenge Pack #3
Crime Fighter Challenge Pack #4
Crime Fighter Challenge Pack #5
GCPD Lockdown
2008 Tumbler Batmobile Pack
Catwoman's Revenge
Robin and Batmobile Skins Pack
WayneTech Track Pack
A Flip of a Coin
1970s Batman Themed Batmobile Skin
2008 Movie Batman Skin
Riddler Themed Batmobile Skin
Original Arkham Batmobile
Rocksteady Themed Batmobile Skin
Season of Infamy: Most Wanted Expansion
Earth-2 Dark Knight Skin	Exclusive to the Epic Games Store and GOG.com. Can be modded into the Steam version.

Scarecrow Nightmare Challenges are PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch exclusives.

PlayStation 4 exclusive skins can be modded in.

Version differences

Premium Edition includes all previously released DLCs.

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Use the -nologo command line argument

Delete or rename video files
Go to <path-to-game>\BmGame\Movies\. Delete or rename StartupMovie.swf and StartupMovieNV.swf.

Reduce stuttering and improve performance

Apply Arkham Quixote DLL Fix

Arkham Quixote DLL Fix is a modified ReShade DLL file that drastically reduces game stuttering and improves performance by recycling texture allocations. All Nvidia GameWorks effects and all overlays (other than the Steam overlay) must be disabled to avoid crashes. In parts of the game, it can cause issues with exposure. The game will use more VRAM with this fix applied. High-end machines will most likely get good performance without this fix applied. Download Arkham Quixote DLL Fix for Nvidia or AMD Put the downloaded dxgi.dll in <path-to-game>\Binaries\Win64. Notes Troubleshooting information can be found here. More detailed, in-depth information about the mod can be found here. On Linux/Steam Deck, add the WINEDLLOVERRIDES="dxgi=n,b %command%" command line argument in game properties.

Stuttering and low FPS on Windows 10 (2004 or newer) and Windows 11

This game uses PhysX, so it might not get along with Windows 10 HAGS technology. HAGS is enabled by default on Windows 11. Not all configurations suffer from this issue.

Disable Hardware Accelerated GPU Scheduling (HAGS)
Disabling this option can negatively affect the performance of other games. It is advised to re-enable it again after exiting the game. Go to Windows Settings > System > Display > Graphics Settings. Disable the Hardware Accelerated GPU Scheduling (HAGS) option.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\BMGame\Config\
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/208650/pfx/

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\BMGame\SaveData\
Steam	<Steam-folder>\userdata\<user-id>\208650\
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/208650/pfx/

Running the Steam version without the Steam client running will save to <path-to-game>\BMGame\SaveData\.

Convert Steam save data to GOG.com

Manual conversion with hex editor
Open the save file from the Steam location using an hex editor. Insert the 4 bytes 00 10 25 00 at the start of the file (do not overwrite existing bytes). Save the file and transfer it to the Windows save folder as listed above. Notes Converting GOG.com to Steam is done by deleting the bytes added in step 2, saving, and moving back to the Steam folder.

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Epic Games Launcher
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud

Video

In-game graphics settings.

In-game general settings.

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor			Works with some issues (see the WSGF entry).
Ultra-widescreen			Works with some issues (see the WSGF entry). See also cutscene fixes.
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)		See Field of view (FOV).
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Anti-aliasing (AA)		Temporal SMAA.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		Adaptive (Adaptive V-Sync), On (Double buffered), or Off.
60 FPS
120+ FPS		Choice of FPS cap: 30, 60, or 90. See High frame rate.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Field of view (FOV)

Add hotkeys[citation needed]

Edit <path-to-game>\BMGame\Config\BmInput.ini. Select all lines that start with "Bindings" in the [Engine.PlayerInput] section. Copy and paste it into the [BmGame.RPlayerInput] section. Under the section [BmGame.RPlayerInput], add the following lines: Bindings=(Name="NumPadOne",Command="FOV 86") Bindings=(Name="NumPadTwo",Command="FOV 90") Bindings=(Name="NumPadThree",Command="FOV 95") Bindings=(Name="NumPadFour",Command="FOV 100") Bindings=(Name="NumPadFive",Command="FOV 105") Bindings=(Name="NumPadSix",Command="FOV 110") Bindings=(Name="NumPadSeven",Command="FOV 115") Bindings=(Name="NumPadEight",Command="FOV 120") Bindings=(Name="NumPadNine",Command="FOV 125") Notes Higher than default values can cause a significant FPS drop during situations where the camera zooms out. Adding these lines can prevent controller trigger inputs from working correctly (e.g., Batmobile acceleration). Remove the lines to fix them. Adjusting the FOV in any way with hotkeys breaks the first-person Zoom In function on the right thumbstick, causing it to zoom in much less than before, making some riddles unsolvable without reloading the last checkpoint and resetting the FOV entirely.

Convert game to Hor+

Game is Vert- by default. Open BmEngine.ini and change AspectRatioAxisConstraint=AspectRatio_MaintainXFOV to AspectRatioAxisConstraint=AspectRatio_MaintainYFOV. Notes May cause the map and some cutscenes to look weird.[citation needed] This tweak also makes the game use vertical measurements. For people who play games where the maximum allowed FOV is 120, use hotkey values of 90 instead of 120. For 110 or 100, use 80 and 70, respectively.

High frame rate

Change value in config file[citation needed]
Edit <path-to-game>\BmGame\Config\BmSystemSettings.ini. Change MaxFPS=60.000000 to the desired FPS cap. Save changes and close the file. Notes High frame rates cause physics objects to overreact, causing clothes to vibrate and ragdolls to fly sometimes. This is purely visual and does not affect gameplay.

Hide HUD

Add hotkeys[citation needed]
Edit <path-to-game>\BMGame\Config\BmInput.ini. Select all lines that start with "Bindings" in the [Engine.PlayerInput] section. Copy and paste it into the [BmGame.RPlayerInput] section. Under the section [BmGame.RPlayerInput], add the following line: Bindings=(Name="NumPadZero",Command="ToggleHUD")

Input

In-game keyboard bindings.

In-game Xbox bindings.

In-game DualShock 4 bindings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		By default, Alt can only be used as a modifier (e.g., Alt+X) and cannot receive mappings.
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support
Controller remapping		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

PlayStation controllers		DualShock 4 (launch model only) DualShock 4 v2 and DualSense controllers require third-party modifications.
PlayStation button prompts
Light bar support		Static red color.
Adaptive trigger support
DualSense haptic feedback support
Connection modes	Wired Wireless does not register any input unless XInput is emulated.

Generic/other controllers		DirectInput.
Button prompts		Logitech Rumblepad 2 shows DualShock buttons.[citation needed]

Xbox Series X/S controller detected as DualShock 4 controller

If an Xbox Series X/S controller is connected via Bluetooth, the game will recognize it as a paired DualShock 4 controller and change the button layout and logos. This only affects the game if the controller is connected via Bluetooth; using it paired with a dedicated receiver will show it as an Xbox One controller.

Use Special K mod[citation needed]

Download Special K, and put SpecialK64.dll inside <path-to-game>\Binaries\Win64\. Rename SpecialK64.dll to dxgi.dll If MSI Afterburner's overlay is being used, close it for a first execution of the mod. Run the game, and Special K overlay should show in-game. Press Ctrl+⇧ Shift+← Backspace to show Special K options. Go to INPUT MANAGEMENT >> GAMEPAD and select PS4 HID INPUT. Then close SpecialK and the game itself. Go back to <path-to-game>\Binaries\Win64\. There should be now a dxgi.ini file. Edit dxgi.ini. Under the section [SpecialK.System], change IgnoreRTSSHookDelay=false to IgnoreRTSSHookDelay=true. Close dxgi.ini and now using Special K with MSI Afterburner's overlay should be possible. Play the game; it should properly recognize the controller now.

Game won't work with DS4 v2/DualSense Controllers

The game has native support for DS4 controllers on PC, with it loading the PlayStation button prompts in-game, but only on connecting the DualShock 4 version 1 model. On connecting a version 2 or DualSense controller, the button prompts will not work.

Use the DS4Windows or Steam controller configuration to emulate an Xbox controller [1].
To force PlayStation button prompts, follow this guide.

Audio

In-game audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound		7.1
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost

Localizations

Language menu from "LanguageSelector.exe", located in the same folder as the game executable (GOG.com version only).

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Arabic				Fan translation by AR Team, download.
Czech				Fan translation.
French
German
Hungarian				Fan translation
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Polish
Brazilian Portuguese
Russian
Spanish				The language must be Spanish.
Latin American Spanish				The language must be Español (México).

VR support

3D modes	State	Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision		See Helix Mod: Batman Arkham Knight (DX11).
vorpX		G3D, Z3D Officially supported game, see official vorpx game list.

Issues fixed

Running game with Intel integrated graphics

The game has an internal check that conditionally ignores Intel integrated graphics and then looks for any other supported graphics device. The game may either refuse to progress past the initial splash screen or use Microsoft's reference 3D adapter instead.

Use modified dxgi.dll
It increases start-up time as the fix forcibly injects an Intel graphics device to be used as the first device by the game. Not compatible with Quixote Fix due to it sharing same DLL file name. Download Batman: Arkham Knight Intel GPU detection fix. Extract the included dxgi.dll into <path-to-game>/Binaries/Win64 and overwrite files if needed.

Fix for missing Batgirl moves and DLC characters critical strikes

While able to do the "disarm and destroy" special takedown for Batgirl while using a gamepad, this move is unusable with a keyboard as it has no button associated with it. This fix restores it for keyboard users as well as missing critical strikes and freeflow focus mk II of all three DLC characters (Harley Quinn, Batgirl, and Red Hood). All of these features were added in Update 1.11 released in the final days of November 2015, and that update was never ported properly or patched after for keyboard players on PC.

Edit BmInput.ini

Step One. Setup Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open BmInput.ini. Select all lines that start with "Bindings" in the [Engine.PlayerInput] section. Copy and paste it into the [BmGame.RPlayerInput] section. This must be done because as soon as a binding is added to the [BmGame.RPlayerInput] section, the game will ignore bindings in the [Engine.PlayerInput] section. Step Two. Adding keybindings for two additional Batgirl special takedowns Under the section [BmGame.RPlayerInput], add the following lines: Bindings=(Name="Y",Command="TriggerWeaponDestroy") Bindings=(Name="T",Command="TriggerSecondaryGroupCombatMove") Replace T and Y with the desired key for special combo 3 ("multi ground takedown") and special combo 2 ("disarm and destroy") moves respectively,—note that if a key is already used for another function it can't be associated with this action. Save the file. Right-click the file and open "Properties". Set the file to "Read-only". It is not always necessary, though. Step Three. Workaround for missing DLC characters critical strikes and freeflow focus mk II Open BmInput.ini. Under the section [BmGame.RPlayerInput], replace Bindings=(Name="LeftMouseButton",Command="SkipCutscene") with the following line: Bindings=(Name="LeftMouseButton", Command="TriggerFearTakedown 0 | GadgetOrQuickStrike | DebugMenuSelectX | SkipCutscene | Button aQuickStrike | FireGun | Button bVehicleBoostButton | Button bFireVehicleSecondaryWeapon | SecondaryFireVehicleWeapon | BatarangBoost | OnRelease BatarangBoostReleased | DeepScanIn") Save the file. Right-click the file and open "Properties". Set the file to "Read-only". It is not always necessary, though. Start the game. Unassign all keybindings that use Left Mouse Button (for Batman, Batmobile's Pursuit and Battle modes, all three DLC characters) via in-game settings. Batman's (including all characters except for three ones from three DLCs created by WB Games Montréal) and Batmobile's controls can be unassigned from the main menu. DLC characters' controls can be unassigned from any relevant AR challenge. Return to the main menu to save your progress. Step Four. Get rid of a warning about modified configuration files when starting the game Edit <path-to-game>\BmGame\Config\PC\PCEngine.ini Under the section [Engine.GameEngine], replace bDisableIniModifyWarning=False with the following line: bDisableIniModifyWarning=True. Save the file. Right-click the file and open "Properties". Set the file to "Read-only". It is not always necessary, though. Start the game and enjoy.

A simpler method of implementing the fix for missing Batgirl moves and DLC character critical strikes listed above

This method is incompatible with the one listed above. Make sure BmInput.ini has no bindings in the [BmGame.RPlayerInput] section. This method offers to create separate source file content, which will be imported into the main BmInput.ini file every time the game is launched.

Create additional BmInput.ini

Go to the <path-to-game>\DLC\356474\Content\BmGame\ (for example; it's possible to choose some other DLC folder). Create an empty folder with any name (e.g., "Batgirl moves"). Create empty BmInput.ini in this folder. Add the following lines for missing Batgirl moves: [Engine.PlayerInput] .Bindings=(Name="T",Command="TriggerSecondaryGroupCombatMove") .Bindings=(Name="Y",Command="TriggerWeaponDestroy") Replace Y and T with the desired key for special combo 2 ("disarm and destroy") and special combo 3 ("multi ground takedown") moves respectively,—note that if a key is already used for another function it can't be associated with this action. Under the section [Engine.PlayerInput], add the following line for DLC characters critical strikes: .Bindings=(Name="LeftMouseButton",Command="BrakeButton | TriggerFearTakedown 0 | GadgetOrQuickStrike | DebugMenuSelectX | SkipCutscene | Button aQuickStrike | FireGun | Button bVehicleBoostButton | Button bFireVehicleSecondaryWeapon | SecondaryFireVehicleWeapon | BatarangBoost | OnRelease BatarangBoostReleased | DeepScanIn") Save the file. Start the game. Unassign all keybindings that use Left Mouse Button (for Batman, Batmobile's Pursuit and Battle modes, all three DLC characters) via in-game settings. Batman's (including all characters except for three of the three DLCs created by WB Games Montréal) and Batmobile's controls can be unassigned from the main menu. DLC characters' controls can be unassigned from any relevant AR challenge. Return to the main menu to save the progress. Enjoy. Bonus. Adding special combo 0 one-key binding and additional one-key bindings for any other actions It's also possible to bind a special combo 0 move ("bat swarm" from the previous Arkham games replaced with environment takedown, batmobile-assisted takedown, weapon steal, etc. in Arkham Knight) to a single key. For this, under the section [Engine.PlayerInput], add the following line: .Bindings=(Name="R",Command="TriggerPrimaryGroupCombatMove") To use R key for this action like in the previous Arkham games, change the default keybinding for the "look behind" action via Batmobile's pursuit mode controls in the main menu. It's possible to bind one action to more than one key. For example, for binding "weapon and destroy" to a second thumb mouse button, under the section [Engine.PlayerInput], add the following line: .Bindings=(Name="ThumbMouseButton2",Command="TriggerWeaponDestroy")

Alternative method of re-adding a missing Batgirl special move

This method is compatible with both methods listed above.

Create additional BmGame.ini

Go to the <path-to-game>\DLC\356474\Content\BmGame\ (for example; it's possible to choose some other DLC folder). Create empty folder with any name (e.g. "Batgirl moves"). Create empty BmGame.ini in this folder. Add the following lines for one of the missing Batgirl moves, "disarm and destroy": [BmGame.RGameInfo] DefaultBatgirlKeyMap=(Ability="$GFxUI.KeyboardControls.SpecialComboTakedown2",PrimaryKeyName="$PC.Keys.Two",SecondaryKeyName="$PC.Keys.UNASSIGNED",Command="TriggerWeaponDestroy",bPrimaryCtrl=0,bPrimaryShift=0,bPrimaryAlt=1, Icon="CI_SpecialCombo2,CI_CombatSpecialTop") The special takedown 2 option will replace the photo mode shortcut for Batgirl in the game controls. Now, it will be possible to set any key for this action, even Alt+2 default two-key binding. Save the file.

Unsupported DirectX Version

The error message This version of DirectX is not supported by the title, please confirm your system requirements can appear upon launching the game. This can be due to out-of-date video drivers or changes introduced by Windows updates.^{[citation needed]}

Update video drivers.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	11
Shader Model support	5

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	PhysX, APEX	PhysX v3.3.1, APEX v1.3.1.3
Audio	Wwise, REV	REV is used for the realistic sound of vehicles.
Interface	Scaleform
Input	libScePad	v1.0.2.0 for Playstation controller support

Mods

Content restoration

Several PlayStation 4-exclusive DLC skins can be modded into the PC version.

• Classic TV Series Batman Skin (requires Batman Classic TV Series Batmobile Pack DLC)
• Batmobile 1966 Skin
• Justice League 3000 Batman Skin

The Steam version is missing the Earth 2 Dark Knight Skin compared to the Epic Games Store and GOG.com versions.

• Earth 2 Dark Knight Skin for Steam (fixed)

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	7 SP1	8.1
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core i5-750 2.67 GHz AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz	Intel Core i7-3770 3.4 GHz AMD FX-8350 4.0 GHz
System memory (RAM)	6 GB	8 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	45 GB	55 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 AMD Radeon HD 7870 2 GB of VRAM DirectX 11 compatible	Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 AMD Radeon HD 7950 3 GB of VRAM
Other	A broadband Internet connection is required for some online features.

A 64-bit operating system is required.

Minimum GPU requirements for Ultra settings require Nvidia GeForce GTX 980 with at least 4 GB of VRAM.