The Marvel Cinematic Universe is making a killing at the box office, and each new release is topping the last in sales. Black Panther is one of the highest grossing movies of all time, Avengers: Infinity War just became the fastest movie to make $1 billion and Marvel Studios shows no signs of slowing down. From toys to toothbrushes and this $929 replica gauntlet, the Avengers are everywhere — except video games. Marvel made an official announcement in January 2017 that an Avengers game is coming, but we have yet to see anything beyond a brief trailer.
An Avengers game was reported to be in development by THQ Studio Australia until the studio shut down in August 2011. The project was supposed to be released alongside the first Avengers film, but the game was cancelled before it made any major progress. Only some rough pre-alpha footage exists, which shows that it would’ve been a first-person action game with Captain America, Iron Man and the Hulk as playable characters.
In a 2014 interview with IGN, TQ Jefferson, Marvel’s head of games, said, “We would rather not have a game than to just sign something to have something out on time.” When asked about the rampant movie tie-in games of the last decade he simply said, “These games were popping out all the time and most of them sucked.” While it’s unclear whether this was directed at Marvel’s various movie tie-ins, critics and fans couldn’t agree more. Marvel decided to take a step back and refocus its energy into making high-quality experiences rather than releasing bland cash grabs.
Each of the Iron Man movies have their own games attached to them, but they received less than positive attention. The Incredible Hulk (2008) received lukewarm reviews at best. And then there was that Thor game (2011).
It comes as no surprise that Marvel would want to capitalize on the success of its highly popular superhero team, but they feel they’ve never formed the proper partnership. “The Avengers game will come when we have the right partner,” Jefferson said.
Now Marvel has announced a partnership with Square Enix for multiple games based on Marvel properties. According to IGN, Enix’s subsidiary Crystal Dynamics is currently developing a “third-person, cover-based, action adventure game” titled The Avengers Project.
Square Enix, best known for the Final Fantasy series, is no stranger to acquiring high-profile licenses. The publisher is responsible for the highly successful Kingdom Hearts series, which uses the worlds and characters of popular Disney films such as The Nightmare Before Christmas and Aladdin. If these games are any indication, Square Enix should have no trouble publishing a high-quality game based on an established property.
Developer Crystal Dynamics is equally familiar with popular franchises. The developer has been in charge of the Tomb Raider franchise since 2006’s Tomb Raider: Legend, and was in charge of crafting Lara Croft’s gritty 2013 reboot: Tomb Raider. But this will be the developer’s first foray into the world of superheroes.
If the wait for The Avengers Project is just too much, Fortnite is putting on a limited-time event where players can be the reality-bending supervillain Thanos. The event starts Tuesday, May 8, and is called “The Infinity Gauntlet Limited Time Mashup.” Players enter the map to duke it out in 100-person combat to the last survivor, but Thanos’ Infinity Gauntlet is included among the usual arsenal.
The only other scheduled Marvel release is Marvel’s Spider-Man, coming out in September from Insomniac Games. With E3 next month, it’s possible that we’ll hear more details when Square Enix is on the show floor.
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