Guardians of the Galaxy Signals a New Age of Marvel Games

Marvel has already dominated the film industry thanks to the popularity of its incredibly successful cinematic universe. Now the company also has its sights set on taking over the world of video games. The comic book titan has a number of high-profile games currently in the works, and they’re kicking things off with a game based on the Guardians of the Galaxy.

The new game is developed by Telltale, the same studio behind hits like The Walking Dead and the most recent Batman game. Their titles tend to follow a plot-driven, episodic adventure format. These games have been big hits for the company, and it looks like the developer has struck gold once again with Guardians. The game has been released to rave reviews and features everyone’s favorite intergalactic heroes in an all-new story that will be told over the course of five episodes.

And this latest Guardians game is only the tip of the iceberg. Marvel has plenty more games in the works. They have also been testing the waters for some time through their efforts in the casual gaming market. You’ve likely seen a number of mobile games hit the web, and the company has also loaned a slew of its characters for various licensed games available through online casino platforms. These games are often adaptations of traditional slot reels and roulette wheels featuring the heroes and villains, and they’re meant to appeal to wider audiences. However, the company has gone farther than just casinos when it comes to casual gaming. The publisher has also pursued a number of mobile fighting games, puzzle games, and social sims. After experiencing more than a few hits for mobile devices, we’re glad Marvel finally decided to go back to making high-quality console titles.

On top of the Telltale Guardians game, Marvel has a highly anticipated Spider-Man title in the works being made by the fine folks at Insomniac. The studio is best known for its work on Spyro the Dragon and the Ratchet & Clank series, and are billing the new Spidey game as an open-world adventure that will tell a story not tied to either the movies or the comics. Fans have been looking forward to the new game since it was first announced during E3 in 2016. Since then, we’ve just been waiting to figure out when the game will actually be released. There have been rumors that Spider-Man will come out in 2017, though Insomniac has been quick to say that no official release date has been confirmed as of yet.

Hot on the heels of Spider-Man will be an untitled Avengers project with Square-Enix, but we probably won’t hear any firm details about that until 2018 at the earliest. If one thing’s for sure, it’s that Marvel has the next couple years laid out. Video game fans should brace themselves for an onslaught of new comic book-themed console material.