EA And Marvel Games Have A Multi-Game Deal
It looks like Electronic Arts is founding its own Marvel Cinematic Universe, as the gaming powerhouse has reportedly signed a multi-picture deal with Marvel Entertainment to release a slew of superhero games.
While Rocksteady bucked the trend on superhero games for DC with the Arkham trilogy, Insomniac had the honour of doing this for Marvel with 2018's Spider-Man. We've seen others like Crystal Dynamics and Eidos-Montreal try with Marvel's Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy, but now, it's over to EA to give it a go... again.
What Is The EA And Marvel Games Deal?
According to Marvel.com, EA has signed a three-game deal with Marvel Games, with one of them being the already-announced Iron Man game from EA Motive. We know that all three will be coming to both consoles and PC, however, there's no news on what's coming after Iron Man. We'll get onto speculation in a moment.
Away from EA's typical shooter or sports games, the Marvel deal is something new. Explaining a pivot into superhero games, Chief Operating Officer Laura Miele said, "We have an intentional, deliberate strategy to have a balanced portfolio. There will be Marvel fans who don't play other EA games."
Each game will be set in the Marvel universe and have its own "original story," which suggests several things. Namely, it's unlikely these will have anything to do with the ongoing success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It's also interesting to note that them all being set in the Marvel universe, does this mean they will be the same universe of shared continuity?
What Are The Others Marvel Games?
Remember that we reported about an open-world Black Panther game earlier this year, which was apparently going to come from a new studio headed up by former Monolith Productions boss Kevin Stephens. If this is the case, it sounds like not all of them will fall under EA Motive. EA Motive famously worked on Star Wars: Squadrons and is currently polishing its Dead Space remake before turning its attention to Iron Man.
As for the third game, your guess is as good as ours. This could be anything from a standalone based on other legacy heroes like Hulk or Captain America, or alternatively, we could see a sequel/spin-off to Iron Man-like Insomniac's Miles Morales. EA is clearly going hard on Marvel games, which marks the publisher's return to the genre for the first time since we rumbled with Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects back in 2005.
