The end of 2017 was sad for fans ofMarvel Heroes, the isometricDiablo-style action RPG with MMO elements set in the Marvel universe. Disney, who of course now owns Marvel, cut ties with the developer Gazillion Entertainment late last year and the game shut down on December 31st. The game, as well as the studio’s other assets, now have a new home.
Speaking to Venture Beat, Mark Hartsman of Trion Worlds, the company responsible for such MMOs asRiftandDefiance 2050, announced that it has bought the studio responsible forMarvel Heroes. All of Gazillion’s assets were part of the purchase, which includes any licenses, trademarks, patents, etc. This also means Trion now owns Gazillion’s entire game library, as well.
This doesn’t necessarily meanMarvel Heroeswill be returning, however. It was not stated byTrion Worldsif it would be trying to bring back any of the games it acquired in the purchase. It seems the company’s main goal right now is to use some of the other assets to strengthen and grow their publishing ability and to help offer support for other developers of online, MMO-style games. Trion will be building its infrastructure to help those developers reach their goals by using its programs for publishing and partnership.
Trion Worlds itself not only publishes games, but also develops its own. As stated earlier, the company put outRiftand the originalDefianceMMO. Recently, a reboot forDefiance, calledDefiance 2050, went into beta on multiple platforms. The game kept the same third person shooter/MMO hybrid of the original. It also currently has another MMO on the market calledTrove, which sports aMinecraftinspired look and has a player base of over 17 million across the globe.
Hartsman went on to say the company wants to help other developers “have sustainable life cycles” and that it wants be help alleviate some of the major issues that cause burnouts in the development world. This includes last minute crunches to meet deadlines and layoffs, things that have a negative effect on developers and the companies' employees. Trion wants to help do what it can to assist other developers through the rigors of game development.
Marvel Heroeswas available for PC, PS4 and Xbox One until it shut down on December 31st, 2017.
