Square Enix is assembling some of its biggest developers for a game based on a franchise you may have heard of.
Marvel announced today that it is partnering with Square Enix to create a new game based on The Avengers, the comic book company’s premier super hero team. Square Enix’s Crystal Dynamics (the developer behind the Tomb Raider franchise) and Eidos Montreal (the team in charge of Deus Ex) are working on the licensed project. This is part of a new multigame partnership between Square Enix and Marvel.
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":2160314,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"games,","session":"B"}']We don’t know much about the game, including when The Avengers will come out, what platforms it will release for, or even what kind of game it will be. However, Marvel did reveal a teaser video for the project, which you can watch below.
Introducing The Avengers project from @SquareEnix, @CrystalDynamics, and @EidosMontreal! #Reassemble pic.twitter.com/0ppcquTIWi
— Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) January 26, 2017
This is a big win for Square Enix, as Marvel is one of the most popular entertainment brands in the world. 2012’s The Avengers film earned more than $1.5 billion worldwide, making it the fifth highest-grossing movie of all time worldwide. Marvel been one of Disney’s most important franchises since the media giant bought the entertainment company in 2009 for $4 billion.
Outside of The Avengers, which includes the likes of Captain American, Iron Man, and Thor, Marvel is behind famous super heroes and teams like Spider-Man, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four. Other video game companies are also working on licensed Marvel games, notably developer Insomniac’s PlayStation 4 exclusive Spider-Man project and Capcom’s fighter Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite.
This new deal could also have an impact on one of Square-Enix’s most anticipated games, Kingdom Hearts III. The Kingdom Hearts series combines Square Enix’s Final Fantasy characters with recognizable faces and locations from Disney movies. However, that has not included anything from Marvel so far. Fans have wondered if Kingdom Hearts III — which is coming out for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One with no set release date — could feature levels based on the famous super heroes. This new deal could help make that possible.