VentureBeat has word that startup
Gazillion
Entertainment has made a deal to launch series of online games with Marvel
Comics characters. This brings to mind
Marvel Universe Online, the game
Marvel and Cryptic Studios
announced in 2006 that was
cancelled early last year, but the first project is a decidedly
less hardcore game based on
Super Hero Squad planned for a 2010 release
based on a kids show to debut on the Cartoon Network in the fall. Their license
covers 10 years, however, and there are plans for more serious offerngs going
forward, as outlined in a conversation on
Big Download where Gazillion CEO Rober Hutter says: "Marvel thought this
would be a great casual MMO to enter the market place and focus on the mass
market before thinking hard about bringing the big Marvel Universe MMO to PC and
consoles over the next few years. As we started working with them, we started
attacking the casual MMO audience, the conversations quickly broadened and this
deal came about."