Uncle Bill grabs Marvel License

[Jedite]

Kinda interesting development today. Microsoft announced that it has secured the license for a Marvel MMO. What i find interesting is that there were alot of rumors floating around that a Marvel MMO was already in the works. I guess either those rumors were false, or marvel only designed the concept and it is up to MS to deliver the actual game. Apparently the MMO might be released for the 360, and there was no mention of a PC version, although I would asume that there will be one.

I wonder which MS Sub will handle the development, given that the last time MS tried to make an MMO it was canceled, and well everyone knows about AC =)

[Braen]

Originally Posted by Jedite

Kinda interesting development today. Microsoft announced that it has secured the license for a Marvel MMO. What i find interesting is that there were alot of rumors floating around that a Marvel MMO was already in the works. I guess either those rumors were false, or marvel only designed the concept and it is up to MS to deliver the actual game. Apparently the MMO might be released for the 360, and there was no mention of a PC version, although I would asume that there will be one.

I wonder which MS Sub will handle the development, given that the last time MS tried to make an MMO it was canceled, and well everyone knows about AC =)

I wonder...who... Naaaaa

[Jedite]

Originally Posted by Braen

I wonder...who... Naaaaa

and the plot THICKENS!

[Lord Thanos]

Nice, if Brad and Co. work on it, am in!

Though am not sure if Sigil is big enough to handle 2 MMORPGs, I believe the whole reason Sigil was started was their desire to keep things small (it's on the FAQ I believe)

[Eomer]

Brad's said that they'd eventually be doing a couple projects at once, so it's within reason.

[Jedite]

I think Braen was just speculating, and thats as far as that is going to go I think. Vanguard is still in Development, and I believe marvel wants to jump into MMOs as soon as possible, to cash in on the current movie success, and the future releases of Spiderman 3, X3, and F4 2.

[Esmo]

Originally Posted by Jedite

I think Braen was just speculating, and thats as far as that is going to go I think. Vanguard is still in Development, and I believe marvel wants to jump into MMOs as soon as possible, to cash in on the current movie success, and the future releases of Spiderman 3, X3, and F4 2.

On a somewhat related note...

If they fuck up X3 I am going to turn in a stark-raving lunatic, head to Hollywood and summarily execute every person involved.

Since the change of directors the script has been rewritten a handful of times including cutting down Nightcrawler's role to the point where they wrote him right out of the movie (fuckers!). The entry point to the third movie is very clear from the second installment - Phoenix. However, all the initial rumors and factoids mention nothing of her at all (which isn't surprising - her role will be the best kept secret) and instead focus entirely on Juggernaut. Juggs is cool and all but he is no Phoenix.

Bryan Singer had a vision when he took on the franchise - specifically a three part story with an amazing denouement. They'd better live up to that vision and NOT turn this franchise into the Batman 3+ blunders.

[Spare Oom and War Drobe]

On a somewhat related note...

who cares if the movie is good/bad if the game sucks.

COH could have been so good and it had so many great features. Someone needs to copy and paste those while adding depth, trade skills, high end guild raiding and PVP.
Avoid the multiclass system though. Give us 6 good classes and I'm happy

[Algrinon]

Just cuz Uncle Bill buys the rights doesn't mean Cousin Brad has to begin work like today. It can sit there on the kettle and stew a bit.

[leane]

Is Microsoft gonna make it, have a subsidary make it, just publish it, or just network support it from a third party?

[Marauder]

Guaranteed to be as good as AC2 or Matrix online.

[Jedite]

Originally Posted by Algrinon

Just cuz Uncle Bill buys the rights doesn't mean Cousin Brad has to begin work like today. It can sit there on the kettle and stew a bit.

I am pretty confident that Sigil will not develop this game. Both Marvel and MS will probably want to capitalize on the Hollywood success that Marvel is enjoying with their Comic Books, to do that production needs to start now(if they started today it would still take about 2years to develop if they take a premade engine like Unreal), this obviously puts Sigil out of the picture, they still have about a year of dev left on Vanguard, and they dont have the man power to develop 2 totally different MMOs at the same time.

[Jait]

Originally Posted by Jedite

Kinda interesting development today. Microsoft announced that it has secured the license for a Marvel MMO. What i find interesting is that there were alot of rumors floating around that a Marvel MMO was already in the works. I guess either those rumors were false, or marvel only designed the concept and it is up to MS to deliver the actual game. Apparently the MMO might be released for the 360, and there was no mention of a PC version, although I would asume that there will be one.

I wonder which MS Sub will handle the development, given that the last time MS tried to make an MMO it was canceled, and well everyone knows about AC =)

I'm still waiting for Microsofts "Tex Murphy" game

[Murr]

Originally Posted by Jedite

I am pretty confident that Sigil will not develop this game. Both Marvel and MS will probably want to capitalize on the Hollywood success that Marvel is enjoying with their Comic Books, to do that production needs to start now(if they started today it would still take about 2years to develop if they take a premade engine like Unreal), this obviously puts Sigil out of the picture, they still have about a year of dev left on Vanguard, and they dont have the man power to develop 2 totally different MMOs at the same time.

Who said development was starting immediately on the Marvel game?

[Lyrical]

-----------------------
"Microsoft and Marvel Sign Worldwide Licensing Agreement for Massively Multiplayer Online Game Development
Entertainment titans team up to create virtual persistent universe featuring Marvel’s renowned stable of more than 5,000 characters; games to be available for Xbox 360.

SAN DIEGO — July 14, 2005 — Today at Comic-Con International, the world’s largest comic book convention, Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq “MSFT”) and Marvel Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: MVL) announced a licensing agreement that will team the entertainment powerhouse Marvel with Microsoft’s proven creative and technology success in the interactive gaming space. Under the terms of the agreement, Microsoft has obtained the exclusive rights to develop and publish massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) featuring Marvel’s iconic universe of Super Heroes™ for use in games developed for the Xbox 360™ system and published by Microsoft Game Studios.

“Marvel has created some of the most iconic and exciting characters and stories in the past century. We’re thrilled to bring this universe to interactive entertainment,” said Peter Moore, corporate vice president of Worldwide Marketing and Publishing for Xbox at Microsoft. “With this next generation of gaming, Marvel fans will finally have the ability to create choices with their favorite Super Heroes, villains and creatures in unbelievable detail — all with the power of Marvel’s incredible vision and the Xbox® platform.”

Marvel’s stable of Super Heroes is known throughout the world and their epic stories have been forever etched into popular culture. Though originating in comic form, the Marvel myths have been a force in feature films, television shows and video games such as best-selling titles based on the Spider-Man, X-Men and Hulk franchises.

MMOGs, which enable thousands of players to interact online simultaneously, represent one of the biggest areas of growth for the multibillion-dollar interactive entertainment industry. The Marvel-based titles will be developed for the Xbox 360 console platform.

“The alliance with Microsoft catapults us into the games category in an unprecedented way. Microsoft is an acknowledged leader in the interactive game space, and backed by their technology, creative and marketing clout, Marvel will establish a strong presence in the burgeoning online gaming arena,” said Tim Rothwell, worldwide president of the Consumer Media Group at Marvel Enterprises. “We are very excited to be working with Microsoft to bring our fans what we expect will be a world-class online gaming experience. We also believe online gaming will provide valuable, global exposure to our character brands.”

Further details regarding Microsoft and Marvel’s MMOG titles will be released in the coming months."
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- Looks like Braen was not talking out of his rear end, like everyone said he was.

- I thought that Vivendi owned the rights to this? How did MSFT did it from them?