Hopefully, this will not be the last we see of this talented studio. On a personal note, I wanted to say thank you to everyone at Gazillion for the hours of enjoyment I got from Marvel Heroes Omega and wish nothing but the best for everyone affected by the news. It’s likely something that gets loopholed through LEGO’s licensing deal with multiple brands but probably does not sit well with Disney brass. A game published by Disney’s rival, Warner Bros. Marvel recently had another big game release with LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2. They simply don’t need to be part of the comic book world if there’s a good chance the rug will be pulled out from under them. While Hollywood flocks to be part of the latest comic book craze, video games have been carving out their own multi-million dollar IP. Making too many moves such as today’s news could give the brand a risky reputation in the eyes of elite studios who might then pass on working with Marvel developing gaming properties. There’s more at stake for Marvel than simply beginning and ending relationships. It’s not out of the realm of possibility for Marvel to make certain parts of its catalog exclusive in the same way Electronic Arts gets to be the only NFL video game under the Madden banner. So far, all we know from the upcoming deal is the gaming publisher gets tasked with developing multiple titles with the first being an Avengers game. Their upcoming deal with Square Enix already comes with a Disney history as the publisher has the legacy of the Kingdom Hearts series under its belt. Marvel’s largest gaming publication partnership announced earlier this year, is yet to reveal details. With Telltale Games recently laying off a notable amount of its workforce on the heels of the Guardians of the Galaxy game finale and now Gazillion being forced to shut down Marvel Heroes Omega, it could spell a consolidation of Marvel licensing as a means of upselling another deal. It begs the question of why this is happening now? Some employees on the game side have talked about being told not to come into work over the past few days and management holding more closed-door meetings than per usual. I’ll be sad to see this one go in the same way we temporarily lost Marvel vs. Games which endear themselves to an incumbent Marvel fanbase who care more about 70+ years of publication history over the latest Hollywood trends. On a fan level, the game was what Marvel should have always been. On a strictly gaming level, it was an exemplary title which did the free-to-play model well with fair levels of starter content and equally reasonable DLC pricing. Personally, I’ve loved Marvel Heroes Omega since its debut on console. Spider-Gwen and our Spider-Man: Homecoming Costumes are now available on #PS4 #XboxOne! Which one did you get? #MHOmega game had recently added Inhumans content and Loki as playable characters to the console versions, but fans had noticed the lack of community updates over the past few weeks. So don’t get too excited the PC hasn’t actually received the actual Omega content yet, and today’s patch is chiefly bug fixes. Like many successful cross-platform free-to-play titles, it is our intent that the PC version of Marvel Heroes Omega remains the lead product.” “Having the PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One games under one brand prevents confusion and moves toward releasing future updates that are more in-tune with one another. “Starting today July 7, 2017, Marvel Heroes 2016 (the PC version) becomes Marvel Heroes Omega to better align with the recently released Xbox One and PlayStation 4 console releases,” Gazillion wrote on its forums. Yes, it’s July 2017, and Marvel Heroes’ PC version has finally shed its 2016 name and joined the consoles! Say, what’s that enormous download chugging up your Steam? Oh no biggie, just Marvel Heroes again… Marvel Heroes Omega, that is.
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