Originally Posted by
Blind Wedjat
I'm not talking about the potential of the game. I've literally said multiple times that actually making it won't be hard. I'm talking about the justifications for making it at the moment. Our strongest argument right now is the MCU film grossing over a billion dollars. I'm just telling you it's a weak one from a business standpoint.
First of all, if that was the case then an Avengers game would have been announced the moment the first film because the highest grossing superhero movie at the time. Except it was announced in 2017, after we had two Avengers movies already plus a very popular animated TV show. We're getting the actual game this year, after four Avengers film including two that grossed over 2 billion dollars and one that's the highest grossing movie of all time. We all know that has translated to merchandising and all of that, but more importantly, the Avengers brand is so strong now that Crystal Dynamics is banking on that to sell the game.
I mentioned all the things Batman and Spider-Man have to their names because it matters in both making a truly expansive game, but also brand power. Both of those characters have been part of the popular culture zeitgeist for decades because of all of those things. The Arkham series and Spider-Man PS4 didn't just fall into their laps, you know. It took years upon years of relevance for those characters to get games that good. Developers will be far more confident in those characters because they're that popular. Slapping their names on any product is an almost guaranteed success. Black Panther doesn't have that yet. He's only appeared in Marvel titled games and Avengers titled productions (which could include the MCU overall since he's appeared in 2-3 Avengers movies and the MCU was built on the Avengers brand). Having comics is not enough.
Why do you think so many other comic book video games are based on a film? Deadpool aside, Iron Man, Hulk, Punisher, Captain America and Wolverine all had video games based on whatever film of theirs was out at the time. It's developers trying to bridge to different markets together. Movies are far more accessible than video games. Going to see a film costs less than buying a great video game, and you spend more hours 'consuming' a video game than you do a film. And that's why a lot of those games weren't great and they were largely unsuccessful. That's why we stopped getting movie tie-in video games. Black Panther didn't get one because he's black. They stopped being good investments. And I don't just want a Black Panther game for having sake.