The studio behind DC Universe Online is swapping comic book multiverses to create a triple-A Marvel MMO for its next project, and it’s being headed by City of Heroes lead designer Jack Emmert – who has been trying to get a Marvel Universe Online game going since at least 2006.
DC Universe Online – the DC Comics MMO by Dimensional Ink Games and Daybreak Game Company – will be 11 years old in January, so it’s perhaps not a surprise that these studios are looking ahead to their next game. While DC Universe Online will continue to be supported, Dimensional Ink Games has started work on its next unannounced project – which we now know to be a Marvel MMO.
The Q3 2021 investor presentation for Enad Global 7 – the holding company that owns Daybreak – reveals that the unannounced massively multiplayer online game at Dimensional Ink will be “Marvel IP based” and “triple-A”, and will be led by City of Heroes designer Jack Emmert, who is also currently heading up DC Universe Online.
Jack Emmert co-founded City of Heroes developer Cryptic Studios, which announced Marvel Universe Online in 2006 with Microsoft but cancelled it in 2008. Seems he’s having another go, although there have been online Marvel games in the past that haven’t done so well – such as the ill-fated Marvel Heroes. Nevertheless, don’t expect to see it for a while – the same report describes 2023 projects as “medium-term” but the Marvel MMO is strictly in the “longer-term” column, so we might not hear about it until 2023 or more.
In addition to DC Universe Online and this Marvel project, Enad Global 7 and Daybreak also runs Lord of the Rings Online – which is still one of the best MMOs on PC. Hopefully this Marvel one will turn out just as well.