New Marvel Game Set To Be Announced In August
You'd better get your spandex out of the wardrobe and check it still fits after lockdown, because a new Marvel game is reportedly on the way. We've come a long way from the dismal lows of Superman 64, and with the likes of Rocksteady's Arkham games alongside Insomniac's Spider-Man ushering in a new era of superhero spectaculars, it sounds like the Avengers are being assembled again.
While 2020 enjoyed the release of Marvel's Avengers from Crystal Dynamics, the role-playing brawler wasn't quite the massive hit publisher Square Enix has hoped for. Still, with the Marvel Cinematic Universe going strong - and a renewed love for comic book video games - games based on the Avengers and their various spinoffs are hot properties.
What is the new Marvel game?
Take-Two interactive has been showing off its impressive financials from the first quarter of 2022's fiscal year. Aside from some disappointing news that GTA 6 won't release before the end of 2022, there's an update on the new Borderlands spinoff, and an exciting tease of a new Marvel game.
We previously reported on how Take-Two could announce a new Marvel game at this year's E3, but the virtual showcase came and went without a reveal. In June, we mentioned something described as "XCOM with Marvel heroes", which could include "some famous actors are voicing the characters". Although some wrote the idea off after E3, the rumours are rearing their head again.
Take-Two confirmed it will be announcing a whole new franchise "soon", and with GamesCom on the way at the end of August, all eyes are on August 25 for Geoff Keighley's Opening Night Live showcase. The main school of thought is that we'll finally see the XCOM and Avengers crossover.
In June, VentureBeat's Jeff Grub said, "XCOM has players commanding agents in small skirmishes, and now Firaxis will weave some Avengers flavor into that foundation. So expect to see Iron Man, Wolverine, and others to show up for this one". XCOM 2 was released in 2016, and with Creative Director Jake Solomon teasing that he's been working on something for the past four years, a Marvel game makes a lot of sense.
What other superhero games are on the way?
We've got a packed slate of superhero adventures on the way. Up first, the delayed Black Panther update is coming to Marvel's Avengers in the form of the "War for Wakanda" expansion. Elsewhere, Star-Lord is breaking free from that rag-tag team of space rogues for Eidos-Montreal's Guardians of the Galaxy that's also from Square Enix.
If all of this wasn't enough, our final Marvel title is (hopefully) Marvel's Spider-Man 2. Although Insomniac is yet to officially announce the sequel, the unprecedented success of 2018's first game and last year's PS5-exclusive Miles Morales mean we're more than ready to see what's next for the Spiderverse.
For those who prefer the dark and brooding world of DC, there's more open-world mayhem with two titles from the Bat Family. Warner Bros. Interactive is following in RockateadY's footsteps with the ambitious Gotham Knights. For the first time ever, the Caped Crusader is sitting this one out, while players take control of Batgirl, Red Hood, Nightwing, and Robin. Speaking of Rocksteady, we'll see a different side of the story for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League - when we'll finally get to play as King Shark.
Whether Take-Two's mysterious Marvel game can break through into this already packed market remains to be seen, but with the publisher already owning some of the biggest franchises of all time, we're excited to see what it can do.