See Marvel’s Cancelled Massively Multiplayer Online Game
There was once a Marvel MMO being worked on, but it has sadly been canceled as of last week, and now we have been given the first look images at the canceled title.
Back in November 2021, company Enad Global 7, perhaps better known as EG7, accidentally revealed an MCU-based MMORPG at their investor’s presentation. The project didn’t have a name at the time, but from what the gaming community could discern was supposed to be another one of Marvel’s increasing moves into the video gaming market. Unfortunately, the unnamed project will remain unnamed since the game was canceled last week. However, one of the game designers revealed the screenshots from the canceled project, which can be found in his Artstation portfolio. You can see the images below:
According to IGN, the images show off the Marvel MMO’s character creation tool, and apparently, character creation progress, including a choice of one of four Marvel factions players would like to join. The choices are split between X-Men, Avengers, SHIELD, and the Fantastic Four. Next to choosing a faction, players would have the ability to choose an outfit, which would probably affect some stats, and at the end of the customization process, players were supposed to be presented with a comic book cover portraying their character. A pretty awesome concept if you ask us.
According to the album description on Ramiro Galan’s Artstation portfolio, the emphasis was on rich and vibrant colors with a distinct style that somewhat mirrors that of Spider-Man Into the Spiderverse. All designs, 3D materials, lighting, and post-process FX were done by Galan, who’s a principal designer at Pixelkings. Admittedly, the canceled Marvel MMO’s aesthetics do seem to lean heavily into the art style seen in Spider-Man Into the Spiderverse, which leans heavily into comic book aesthetics anyway.
EG7 announced the cancelation of the Marvel MMO, developed by one of the company’s subsidiaries, Daybreak Games. As per EG7’s announcement, the reason for the cancelation was based on the re-evaluation of development risks, the size of the investment, and the long-term product portfolio for the group. The company’s board decided to change the development priorities and reallocate their sources to alternative long-term projects.
The Swedish video game holding company initially planned to invest more than 500 million Swedish krona (SEK), which is more than $50 million, into the ongoing development of the now-canceled Marvel MMO video game. However, following the cancelation, the company officials stated that it will now use said funds to diversify investments into smaller projects within the company and provide upgrades for their current titles, like Lord of the Rings Online and DC Universe Online, and a whole line-up of original first-party IPs.
The company stated that its decision to pull the plug on the development of Marvel MMO wouldn’t severely affect the company’s near to medium-term profits and revenues. It’s also important to acknowledge that its subsidiary, Daybreak Games, which EG7 acquired in 2017, tried its hand at developing a Marvel-based MMO a few years ago, but the game was also canceled following massive staff layoffs in 2018.
The MMO market is currently experiencing massive cancelations, and apart from a few well-established MMOs like World of Warcraft or Final Fantasy XIV, upcoming games are either canceled or released to a sea of post-launch problems and server congestions. Not to mention massive delays that are currently plaguing the industry, with more and more titles being delayed. So, it really doesn’t come as a shock that the Marvel MMO got canceled. Luckily, fans still have Marvel’s Avengers to play.
