After losing their exclusive rights to Star Wars, it looks like EA wants to dip their toes in another huge IP. We’ve known for a while that EA Motive will be working on an Iron Man game, but it looks like this EA/Marvel team-up is going to last a little longer.
According to Bloomberg, EA has actually entered into an agreement with Marvel where they will develop a total of three games based on Marvel IP—Iron Man being the firstgame. EA COO Laura Miele had this to say about the deal:
“We have an intentional, deliberate strategy to have a balanced portfolio… There will be Marvel fans who don’t play other EA games.”
Admittedly, for all of Marvel’s success in the box office, they haven’t been able to translate the same kind of popularity when it comes to games. It was the hope that the Marvel IP would make Square Enix’s Avengers game a huge hit, but it managed to bomb upon release. If it’s any consolation, the Guardians of the Galaxy game did receive a lot of great buzz from players.
It’s not really clear what kind of formula will make a Marvel game succeed, but some are hoping that they focus on some narrative-driven, third-person platformers. Personally, I think they should bank on the hero shooter genre like Overwatch or Valorant where players can take turns playing heroes and villains in teams with one common objective. At least, that’s my pitch.
No release date has been set for EA’s Iron Man game.
