More weblinks at the actual website + more articles to read.
http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/51245
Confirmed: Marvel Universe Online Canceled
by Chris Faylor Feb 11, 2008 10:33am CST
Ending months of speculation, Microsoft Game Studios VP Shane Kim has
confirmed that Marvel Universe Online is no longer in development.
According to Kim, the project's cancellation and was "an amicable
decision"
reached by both Microsoft and Marvel, and stemmed from the changing MMO
landscape. "Clearly there are emerging models that have come about," he
told
MTV Multiplayer, pointing to alternative business strategies such as
ad-sup****ted play and item-oriented microtransactions.
Announced in 2006, Marvel Universe Online was planned for release on both
PC
and Xbox 360. The superhero MMO was under development by the veteran team
of
superpower-friendly developers at Cryptic Studios, which had previously
been
sued by Marvel for its work with the PC MMO City of Heroes.
"When we first entered into the development and agreement of the
development
of Marvel Universe Online, we thought we would create another
subscription-based MMO," noted Kim. "If you really look at the data
there's
basically one that's successful and everything else wouldn't meet our
level
or definition of commercial success."
Kim is undoubtedly referring to Blizzard's World of Warcraft (PC) as the
one
MMO that would meet Microsoft's expectations for commercial success. The
massively successful online effort has ac***ulated over 10 million
subscribers since its 2004 release, and Blizzard's net revenue for the
past
year was $1.2 billion.
Rumors of the Marvel MMO's cancellation began circling last year, with
both
Cryptic and Microsoft refusing to comment at the time. Later rumors
claimed
that the project was being canceled as a result of massive technical
problems,
http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/49948
and that Cryptic would be handling recently-abandoned Star Trek MMO.
http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/50752
"At the end of the day, all of those combined for us to say, look, it's
probably in the interest of both [Marvel and Microsoft] for us not to
continue." Kim continued. "It's just something that we felt that, for us
and
for them, it would be better if we ended development. Which is
disappointing, because that had a lot of promise. But sometimes you have
to
make these decisions."
Though Marvel fans may be saddened by the recent deluge of game
cancellations--EA's Marvel fighting game is dead as well-- the comic book
giant still has a number of interactive titles in the works, including
Secret Level's Sega-published Iron Man and new Spider-Man and Marvel:
Ultimate Alliance games from Activision.
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