A new rumor has come up about the state of Marvel video games.
Before we get to the rumor, we could take a quick overview of where Marvel video games are ourselves. With Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 releasing this month, one might assume that the games are doing just fine. But the Marvel video games contracted under Insomniac are an exception, one that proves the rule.
The unfortunate truth is that most Marvel video games that have come out since Disney acquired the comic book property company have mostly flopped. We can trace this history back to Wave 2 of Disney Infinity, an overly ambitious toys-to-life platform that burned out as quickly as it crested its wave.
Disney acquired Marvel in 2009, so there’s actually a good two decades of Marvel video games that came out under Disney’s watch. What’s relevant to us now, however, are games from the last three years. While Disney greenlit many licensee games such as Lego Marvel, and mobile games like Marvel Snap, console gamers noticed that Disney was not greenlighting video games for Marvel characters on consoles for some time. That was a deliberate choice, partly because Marvel wanted to focus on their movies, but it later became a matter of Disney wanting to make sure Marvel games were hits.
And so we go to this latest rumor. As reported by The Gamer, a Twitter user reacted to a meme about Marvel video games with some insider information about the plans for future Marvel games.
Let’s start with the meme. As Twitter user NebsGoodTakes put it:
“Marvel’s Avengers? Shut down
Marvel’s Midnight Suns? Flopped
Marvel Future Revolution? Shut down
Marvel’s GOTG? Flopped
Marvel Heroes Omega? Shut down
Marvel Avengers Academy? Shut down
Marvel Realm of Champions? Shut down
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 1 + 2? Delisted”
To be clear, this list is somewhat selective and potentially misleading. As we had pointed out, the Marvel games being made by Insomniac for Sony have been successful commercially and critically thus far. On another end, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 was a successful exclusive for the Switch at over 1 million units sold. Many of the games listed here were also critically well received, regardless of their sales.
But now, let’s get to CanWeGetToast’s rumor:
“Marvel is PAINFULLY aware of how their video games division hasn’t been reaching its potential overall.
There have been whispers of an internal shift for Marvel to focus on games. The new EA Black Panther and Iron Man games will be the start of a push for something BIG.”
We think gamers would do well to be cautiously optimistic about this rumor. While it’s true that Disney has been neglectful of their Marvel video game library, they don’t always do well when they involve themselves directly in the production of games.
It’s certainly true that Disney’s neglect shows in how Marvel’s Avengers turned out. The right way Disney would get involved would be if they paid attention to what Marvel games fans want to see.
And an easy immediate win there would be if they republished the popular classic Marvel games, such as FGC staple Marvel vs Capcom 2, but also gems like the X-Men arcade game, Hulk Ultimate Destruction, and Activision’s run of X-Men Legends, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and Spider-Man games. This is actually what Disney did with the Star Wars video game license, so it’s confusing that they didn’t do it for Marvel.
Beyond that, Disney needs to recognize that hiring the best studios and throwing big budgets in isn’t enough. Fans have expectations for these newer Marvel games that have to be met if they are to be buying and playing them. Insomniac doesn’t have some magic wand that makes them the only good Marvel game developer. EA’s Marvel games can turn out good, if Disney manages those projects right.
