Now that EA Chicago has closed its doors and former general manager of the studio, Kudo Tsunoda, has moved on to Microsoft, what will become of the destruction-filled Marvel fighting game the team had planned? Nothing, according to GameTap, as the parties involved have "jointly agreed to discontinue development of the Marvel titles under the EA Games Label." That means that the ill-conceived Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects will be the only game to shoulder the burden of the EA-Marvel crossover deal.
Shown only in trailer form, the EA Chicago fighter looked to bring Marvel mainstays Spider-Man, Dr. Doom, Captain America and the Hulk together for a next-gen fisticuffs-fest that saw the characters battling amid crowds of bystanders, toppling buildings and generally wreaking havoc. Marvel's other multi-character title, Marvel Universe Online, has also been the subject of cancellation talks. Maybe Marvel should just stick to movies.
http://kotaku.com/349839/eas-marvel-fighting-game-canned
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Electronic Arts, Marvel Dissolve Game Deal
Multiyear agreement that played to strengths officially over. Was Tsunoda's departure the deal breaker?
By: Curt Feldman | newsguy
Jan 28, 2008
Electronic Arts today brought conclusive clarity to the future of its upcoming Marvel Comics-based fighting game formerly in development at EA Chicago.
It ain't happening.
"EA and Marvel have jointly agreed to discontinue development of the Marvel titles under the EA Games Label. This was a business decision based on EA's portfolio strategy," an Electronic Arts rep told GameTap today.
The title would have been the second in a multigame deal Electronic Arts and Marvel entered into in early 2004. The first offspring of the deal was 2005's underwhelming multiplatform game, Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects.
Back when the two superpowers announced the deal, EA's then-COO (now its CEO) John Riccitiello called the collaboration "a unique opportunity...to bring [Marvel's] renowned superheroes into original videogame environments, as well as providing us an opportunity to create new heroes that will live in games, comic books and other licensing or media opportunities that Marvel presents."
The deal with EA was similar to one Marvel had with Capcom. That deal pit classic Marvel superheroes against original characters from the game publisher and resulted in the 1999's Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes.
Back in 2004, Marvel was just as excited by the prospects of the EA collaboration. Then-Marvel CEO Allen Lipson said the deal created a "tremendous opportunity for EA to create new characters for fighting games that can be exploited through our global merchandise licensing machine to fuel sales in many other product categories."
The companies clearly saw the potential for a commercial killing.
Today's confirmation that the alliance had been terminated comes on the heels of EA Chicago's studio head Kudo Tsunoda leaving that organization. Tsunoda recently accepted a senior position within Microsoft's Xbox division. It's not clear if his departure influenced the move to dissolve the agreement between EA and Marvel
What was to have been the second collaborative game was in development at EA Chicago and had just recently begin to surface in EA messaging and promotion. For the past few months, however, news about the title had dried up considerably, leading many industry watchers to wonder what had become of the title.
There was no speculation that the entire deal between Marvel and EA was at risk.
For its part, Marvel issued a statement, saying, as EA did, that the two companies "have jointly agreed to discontinue development of Marvel fighting games under the Electronic Arts brand."
As for what's to come of Marvel's intent to extend its brand into the game space, the company said, rather vaguely, that the move "will not affect Marvel's ongoing plans to release fighting games based on the Marvel properties in the future."
http://www.gametap.com/home/read/article/3402
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Marvel Universe Online Suspected Of Cancellation
After whittling down the potential candidates for Microsoft published games that were affected by cancellation rumors—developers confirming that Banjo Threeie, Alan Wake and Fable 2 were all safe—it appears that 1UP may have revealed the title that spawned said rumors. Despite being described by EGM editor Shane Bettenhausen in a recent 1UP podcast as in development for a "very long time" and a product "that people are very excited for", it appears that Marvel Universe Online is the source of cancellation gossip. Yes, that sound your hearing is the quiet shrugging of thousands of shoulders.
Nothing has been shown of the massively multiplayer online game save a pre-rendered teaser trailer since it was announced in September of last year, but Microsoft Game Studios and developer Cryptic clearly had high hopes for MUO. According to 1UP's report, "serious, potentially stalling, development troubles" may be responsible for reps at MS and Cryptic being mum on its progress.
That Cryptic recently sold intellectual property rights to the City of Heroes franchise, losing a portion of development staff in tandem, may have something to do with MUO's rumored problems.
As of right now, it's all unofficial and Microsoft doesn't seem to be providing any fresh details on the game. Keep your eyes on it though, as Marvel Universe Online's prognosis doesn't sound too promising.
http://kotaku.com/gaming/rumor/marvel-universe-online-suspected-of-cancellation-322277.php
