It’s official:  a prequel to the Arkham games has been announced.  The game is set to take place before both Arkham Assylum and Arkham City and is being developed by Warner Bros. Montreal.  The first two installments of the franchise were developed by Rocksteady Games.  This change shouldn’t drastically change the property as WB Montreal is familiar with the Arkham franchise having ported Arkham City to the WiiU.  Batman: Arkham Origins will be released on current-gen home consoles and PC on October 25, 2013.

In addition to Arkham Origins, an additional prequel game is being developed for 3DS and Vita.  Titled Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate, this portable entry in the franchise will take place after the events of its home console counterpart.  Blackgate is being developed by Armature Studios, which was formed by staff from Nintendo’s Retro Studio (developer of the Metroid Prime series and Donkey Kong Country Returns).  The game will be a 2.5D Metroid-vania style game and is set to release alongside Arkham Origins.

Sources:  Game Informer, Joystiq