Electronic Arts and Marvel Part Ways

By Mark Johnson

Since EA Chicago closed its doors in November, the future of the Marvel Comics fighting game the studio was working on has been in question. Until now, that is - it is now official that the licensed game will not be developed or published by Electronic Arts.

SPOnG contacted Marvel's PR guy, Jeff Klein in New York. We asked him about the split and what future plans are in the offing for Marvel titles. He is obviously a busy chap, as he (or possibly his PA, no signature on the email) only had time to issue the same statement as EA had, "Electronic Arts and Marvel have jointly agreed to discontinue development of Marvel fighting games under the Electronic Arts brand. This was a business decision based on Electronic Arts portfolio strategy and will not affect Marvel's ongoing plans to release fighting games based on the Marvel properties in the future".

That's right. A "business decision" based on "Electronic Arts portfolio strategy". Vague enough? It is good to know, however, that Marvel is in a position to comment on EA's strategy. Yes, we know it was a jointly agreed statement...

The game was announced last summer and was set to feature a host of Marvel heroes and villains duking it out. EA had previously published the Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects, which featured Marvel heroes going up against some EA-created characters - the latter were also shoe-horned (or leveraged... probably) into an unremarkable comic adaptation.

The cancellation of the latest project comes hot on the heels of EA Chicago's former studio head, Kudo Tsunoda, moving to Microsoft to be project lead on the next Gears of War title. That is, however, more than likely to be a coincidence.

EA Chicago was closed nearly three months ago, so its former head moving on is unlikely to affect a game that has been floating in limbo for the last few months.

It would be peculiar, to say the least, for EA to have deliberately booted such a strong franchise out of the nest. While the company's "portfolio strategy" isn't exactly loaded with beat-'em-ups, for the sake of the the Marvel license EA ought to have been able to pull something out of the hat. This makes it more likely that Marvel sacking pulled the plug.

EA Chicago was closed thanks to its lack of profitability, with EA Games chief Frank Gibeau saying in a memo, "Each team is responsible for staying on a reasonable path to profitability. Sticking to that strategy is what gives us the financial resources and flexibility to take risks on new projects". He also stated that the studio was not likely to meet expectations until 2011.

So, as we say, it looks suspiciously like, seeing a lack of progress on the upcoming fighter, Marvel opted not to extend a licensing agreement with EA and shop elsewhere.

So, where will it go? Well, the comics publisher has worked closely with Activision over the past few years on the likes of Spider-Man 3 and Ultimate Alliance, while SEGA has games coming out to coincide with upcoming Iron Man, The Hulk and Captain America. Finding another publisher for an all-star fighting game based on its characters should not prove too much of a problem for Marvel.

SPOnG certainly hopes not. The current air of paranoia and mistrust buzzing round the Marvel universe in the wake of Civil War and in the run-up to Secret Invasion makes this an ideal time to have Marvel heroes trying to smash each others' faces in. Alas, they'll probably all be making nicey-nice again before a new game has been developed. Nerd-out over...