Marvel, Activision partnership extended
by Alan Rose 
{ Nov 12th 2005 at 3:20PM }
Activision and comic book media powerhouse Marvel Entertainment have extended their licensing agreement from 2009 to 2017. The agreement is reported to be worth $50 million in licensing revenue and mentions "exclusive worldwide publishing rights" to Marvel properties.
There must be some fine print included that specifies only Spider-Man and X-Men-related franchises (which Activision has been distributing since the days of the PS1) because other recent Marvel titles have been published by the likes of EA (Rise of the Imperfects), THQ (Punisher), and Vivendi Universal (Hulk). This should suit Activision just fine considering the X-Men Legends and Spider-Man movie franchises have been the most successful Marvel games to date.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Wonderflex @ Dec 18th 2005 10:03PM
Does the "most successful" to date only include direct Marvel games? Because Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 seems to have had great success, especially in the coin-op versions. They have been holding Evolution; the interneational fighting tournament; for quite some time, with it being a pinical game.
logan @ Dec 18th 2005 10:03PM
Those Capcom games were good, but they obviously didn't ship very many of them because they've been scarce for years. Try finding a copy of Marvel vs. Capcom 2 for PS2 or Xbox. You'll pay good money on eBay for them (especially for Xbox).
Conversely, Spider-Man movie games and X-Men Legends shipped in droves and have even been re-released as Hits titles.
Art Guy @ Dec 18th 2005 10:03PM
It's really not accurate to call Activision a developer. They are a publisher who own a number of developers. Very nit-picky I know.
cain @ Dec 18th 2005 10:03PM
The Spider-Man movie games have decent visuals, but games based on the webhead comic books are better. I liked the PS1 Spider-Man games more because of the comic feel.
Dan Choi @ Dec 18th 2005 10:03PM
I believe that Hulk and Punisher were excluded on the basis of previous Marvel deals (before the extensive Activision one), and that EA snagged Nemesis because it bought up the fight-game rights (like how MS got the MMORPG licensing for consoles all sewn up for 360). Accordingly, we weep for 2D Marvel/X-Men Vs. games from Capcom.
Efren @ Dec 18th 2005 10:03PM
I don't care so long as whomever is responsible for Marvel Nemesis dies a slow, painful death.
Art Guy @ Dec 18th 2005 10:03PM
Efren - That would be EA.