Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City are great games, and have been a hit video game franchise for Warner Bros.  Although writer Paul Dini has moved on, the studio hopes to keep the Batman: Arkham world going.  In a 2012 Q4 Earnings conference call, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Administrative Officer John K. Martin said,

"We also have a strong games release this year, which will include the next release in the Batman Arkham franchise. So all in all, we expect Warners to post another very strong year in 2013."

Hit the jump for more.

In July 2012, Variety reported that the next Batman game a prequel based on the Silver Age, and would feature Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and the Flash as well as Batman's first confrontation with the Joker.  Since Mark Hamill has said he's done voicing the Joker, I would prefer to cut the villain out entirely, but I doubt that will happen assuming this is the plot.  [Minor spoiler: I thought Arkham 3 would involve Azrael since he mentions "a prophecy".]

It's worth noting that the Variety story said the game wouldn't arrive any earlier than 2014, and that seems like a more believable timeline.  The marketing for Arkham City began almost two years before the game's release (and Rocksteady had an idea for the game that they hid in Arkham Asylum).  To push out the game later this year seems unlikely, but if it has the same level of quality as the first two Arkham games, sooner is better than later.