The post D.I.C.E. world has many of us combing through the copious amounts of comments Microsoft Games Studio head Shane Kim made in a variety of interviews. One such lengthy discussion with MTV Multiplayer revealed that the Marvel MMO was indeed a canceled. A news item I hadn’t realized was newsworthy since I’d assumed the game irrelevant from its announcement in 2005. But it’s nice to see Microsoft catch up with my way of thinking.
We’d been fairly certain in the past few months it was a canceled project, but Kim officially confirmed it in the interview. ”I’ll confirm. Marvel and we have agreed to end development on the MMO,” Kim said. ”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.”
One of the key issues that led to the cancellation is the state of MMO’s right now. Microsoft realizes that there is a single powerhouse, and no matter how hard Richard Garriott tries he can’t topple World of Warcraft. Microsoft is in the business of launching successful ventures, and a Marvel MMO just had too little chance to succeed.
Good, now we can all move on with our lives…officially.
