Square Enix's upcoming Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy video game has been all but confirmed to have had multiplayer earlier in developer, likely similar to that of Marvel's Avengers. Marvel's Avengers is a live-service multiplayer game released in 2020, and it's been been heavily criticized for its bugs, glitches, and microtransactions. Players of Marvel's Avengers recently had their IP addresses revealed in-game, meaning streamers weren't able to stream gameplay of the already ailing game without revealing sensitive personal information.
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy was officially announced during E3 2021, with publisher Square Enix and developer Eidos-Montréal offering an in-depth look at its gameplay and mechanics. The upcoming title already shows a lot of promise, with many Marvel fans excited for its release. While some gamers lament having to play as Star-Lord versus other characters, others have praised the title for its differing take on Guardians of the Galaxy compared to the MCU films. The game promises a never-before-seen story that takes place shortly after the legendary misfits' formation. Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy will feature no multiplayer and will not include microtransactions, according to Square and Eidos-Montréal. However, that appears to not have always been the case.
As noted by Wccftech, it's likely the Guardians of the Galaxy game was at one point set to support multiplayer, if not function as a full-blown live-service game. Game developer Simon Larouche, who according to his LinkedIn account, has been working at Horizon Forbidden West studio Guerrilla Games as the director of an unannounced title. Before making this move in 2018, though, Larouche served as "Online Gameplay Director" at Eidos-Montréal while working on Guardians of the Galaxy. As Square Enix has confirmed, the game is single-player, but it appears that online play was planned before being canceled (or perhaps delayed) at some point.
Guardians of the Galaxy's launch plans remain unknown, but it's clear there's a market for single-player comic book-based video games. Single-player PlayStation 4 exclusive Marvel's Spider-Man is the fastest-selling superhero game in US history, selling over 20 million units worldwide as of November 2020. The game was followed up with a standalone expansion in 2020 with Spider-Man: Miles Morales. A launch title for PS5 and also available on PS4, Miles Morales was another success for Sony and developer Insomniac Games, shifting over four million copies as of April 2021. However, Marvel's Avengers failed to see the same success as Spider-Man on PS4, despite being available on more platforms. Marvel's Avengers is believed to have caused significant financial losses for Square Enix, with lower than expected sales numbers.
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy gameplay already looks quite polished, with the story itself appearing humorous story during action-packed combat and missions sequences. The title will even include some of Star-Lord's favorite 1980s tracks, including music from New Kids on the Block, Iron Maiden, and KISS. The wait for its release won't be long, as the game is arriving in Fall 2021 for most modern platforms, including a Nintendo Switch cloud release.
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy will be available on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC and Nintendo Switch on October 26, 2021.