The news came out recently that Activision, the studio behind such franchises as Call of Duty, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and Skylanders, would be ending their 15-year deal with Marvel following the release of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 this Spring. All games under the Marvel license made by Activision have been removed from PSN, Xbox Live and Steam effective immediately.
Activision and Marvel first started working together back in 1986 on the Commodore 64 title “Howard the Duck.” After the release of the game, they worked together sporadically until 1998 when they signed an exclusive licensing agreement to release all future Marvel based titles through Activision. Since then, they’ve made over 30 titles together including the critically acclaimed X-Men Legends series (and it’s spin-off Marvel Ultimate Alliance 1&2), the Spider-Man series and most recently Deadpool.
Some have said the reason behind the partnership coming to an end was due to the lukewarm reactions to some of their more recent games (X-Men Legacy and Spider-Man: Edge of Time), but both Activision and Marvel have yet to release a statement regarding the situation.
Marvel is now a free agent in the video game department and can work with whoever they want now. Whether they will sign a deal with another company or not is up to them, but after the release of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, they are free to do as they please.
What are your thoughts on this partnership ending? Are there any games you enjoyed from them? Who should Marvel work with next? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
