Marvel Universe Online Officially Canceled

Marvel Universe Online is officially no longer in development, according to an interview with Microsoft Game Studios head Shane Kim with MTV Multiplayer. Kim cited problems with potential business models and said that the separation between Microsoft and Marvel was amicable. They did not mention Cryptic Studios, who had been slated to develop the game.

Cue the natural follow-up: What went wrong?

"I don't think it's necessarily a case of what went wrong," Kim told me. "I don't know that that's the right way to put it. For us we look at our priorities and all of the things we have to do. It's a tough space. It's a very competitive space. And it's a space that's changing quite a bit. ...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. And 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. And then you have to look [and say]: 'Can we change the business model for that? Is that really viable given how far we are in development? And so forth. Does Marvel want to do that?' There's a whole bunch of factors."

Read more there.

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So what Microsoft is saying is "If we can't beat WOW then we won't do it." That's a very "take my ball and go home" attitude. They are saying that only WOW is successful...which is incorrect. I would think that an MMORPG that is profitable would be successful, no?

That's pretty silly and one more reason I'm sick of WoW. IMO, success is measured in longevity. If every project was held to that one standard of subscriptions, there would be nothing else to play. Good riddance to MS, though. If that's their attitude, they can stay out of the MMO biz.

absolutely gutted by this i had been looking forward to a marvel mmo for a long time :(