With Marvel pretty much dominating the movie scenes, it’s no suprise that they’d be intersting in dominating the video game industry as well, and with the release of Marvel’s Avengers Infinity war and E3 next month, it reminding me of the Avenger project that was teased a while back.
In January 2017, Square Enix announced it had signed a multi-title contract to produce games based on Marvel Comics properties. The trailer however did leave us with much to go on. The trailer showed a bunch of imagery of iconic symbols that belonged to their respective Avengers, with a  vague voiceover, which seems to hint that a tragedy has befallen the heroes.
The Avenger project is been developed by Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montreal. Crystal Dynamics is known for the reboot of Tomb Raider and its sequel, Rise of the Tomb Raider and Eidos Montreal is best known for the rebooted Deus Ex franchise, including 2016’s, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. It also good to note that former Naughty Dog creative director Shaun Escayg may be involved in the game’s development as well. I’m pretty sure that he is but I can’t seem find a good confirmation of it.
Depending on who you are, these may be bad or goo news if you liked or hated the games these companies have made. I for one enjoyed the hell out of both the Tomb Raiders games, so I’m probably on the optimistic side of things. Anyways, let’s speculate on what this new Marvel game might be.
With heavy AAA companies working on this title, and over-seen by Square-Enix itself, my best guess is that it’s going to be an open world Action-RPG game. Something inside me also keeps telling me that we might see some level of multiplayer aspect to this game but that’s honestly is a very unlikely thing, given that the companies working on this game, all have experience and expertise in single-player narrative games.
However, Marvel Entertainment have said that they’re are creating a new universe and story with the Avenger Project that players can play on for years to come.
The Avengers project is being designed for gamers worldwide and will be packed with all the characters, environments, and iconic moments that have thrilled longtime fans of the franchise. Featuring a completely original story, it will introduce a universe gamers can play in for years to come. More details on The Avengers project and other games will be announced in 2018.
Another thing we could see in this Avengers project is the creation of a MCU-like deal with the games, an MGU if you will.
“By partnering with Crystal Dynamics and Eidos-Montréal, we are now working with two of the industry’s most talented and respected game development studios to bring Marvel stories to life in ways our fans have never experienced,“ said Jay Ong, Senior Vice President, Games & Innovation, Marvel Entertainment. “The Avengers project is a perfect example of how Marvel is making games a key part of the landscape for Marvel storytelling, alongside comics, television and film. We can only do this by matching our greatest Super Heroes with the world’s top developers, such as the creative minds at Square Enix.”
It’s clear that this Avengers project is already going to be very ambitious in terms of what they are trying to accomplish. So I’m not ruling out a multiplayer component out yet. Of course, I’m not saying that every game needs a multiplayer aspect to be good, just look at God of War and Persona 5. However, I personally would like to see one, as I did enjoy fighting mobs of enemies with my brothers growing up playing games like Marvel: Ultimate Alliance.
Anyways, if they’re are indeed creating a MGU (Marvel Game Universe), then it would be a safe bet to assume that the upcoming spider-man might be the start of something great. Of course, that theory can easily be debunked if Square Enix comes out and says that the Avengers project as nothing to do with the upcoming Spider-Man games.
Let me know what you guys think of all this.
