A new company in
California has acquired the rights to develop massively multiplayer online games based on the Marvel universe
A new video game start-up company is to take on the might of the World of Warcraft multiplayer online gaming franchise with the help of Spider-Man, Wolverine and Captain America.
Gazillion Entertainment has announced a 10-year agreement with Marvel Entertainment to develop online games featuring iconic superheroes.
Gazillion, based in San Mateo, California, will use some of the 5,000 characters and elements from Marvel’s films and animated series to create massively multiplayer online games (MMO).
MMO games, which can be played by thousands at the same time over the internet, are a fast-growing sector of the video games industry. The sector is dominated by Blizzard’s World of Warcraft, which has more than 11.5 million monthly subscribers. It has posted more than $1 billion in revenues in each of the past two years.
Video games have so far proved resilient to the recent collapse in consumer spending. US video game sales rose 10 per cent year on year in February to $1.47 billion, led again by Nintendo’s blockbuster Wii console.
Simon Philips, Marvel’s president of worldwide consumer products, said the company’s stable of more than 5,000 superheroes was “tailor-made for massively multiplayer entertainment that will appeal to a wide audience”.
“Despite the tough economy, the video game industry continues to grow, and MMO games for mass audiences represent the next big opportunity for the upcoming decade,” said Gazillion president and chief executive Rob Hutter. “This is particularly the case for established global entertainment brands like Marvel, which possess hundreds of millions of touch points with fans worldwide.”
Gazillion, which is backed by leading venture capital firms and includes talent recruited from Apple, Blizzard Entertainment, Microsoft Game Studios and Pixar Animation Studios, has set up four development studios, publishing operations and “partnerships with select entertainment brands worldwide”.
The first game in development is a casual MMO for younger audiences based on Marvel’s Super Hero Squad. It is due for release in 2010.
An MMO game for PCs and game consoles, thought to include the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, is also in development. Players are likely to be able to create their own characters for the game.
“The global online PC game market is expected to reach $19 billion in 2013, and Casual and AAA MMOs are expected to reach $11.8 billion in 2013, representing a growing shift beyond the core to audiences of all types and ages,” David Cole, founder and president of DFC Intelligence, said.
“The keys to success will be the ability to release products for a range of audiences and a focus on making games a quality ongoing service. As the market grows, large entertainment brands will play an important role in expanding the audience. Marvel has taken the lead in going after this emerging opportunity.”
Gazillion also announced plans to make MMO games with Lego characters in a deparate attempt to capture young gamers in the hope that they will go on to other Gazillion products when they get older.
Nintendo is leading the continuing resilence in the general video games market in the US, according to research group NPD. Video game software sales climbed 9 per cent year on year in February to $733.5 million, while hardware sales rose 11 per cent to $532.7 million. The Wii console led the pack as the top-selling hardware device in the month, moving 753,000 units.
Microsoft’s Xbox 360 was the No. 2 domestic console in the month, followed by Sony’s PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 2.
Capcom’s Street Fighter IV was the best-selling game, moving a combined 849,000 units for the Xbox and the PS3, while Wii Fit was No. 2 at 644,000. That was followed by Wii Play and Sony’s Killzone 2.
“What it tells you about this economy is that there are a couple of categories of consumer that are just going to get what they want,” said Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter.
He said the success of Street Fighter IV and Wii Fit shows that the industry’s strength lies at two seemingly opposite poles: the young, hardcore male consumer and families.
