Marvel Enterprises announced today at the world’s largest video game convention, Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), that partners have sold more than 14.5 million units of Marvel-branded video games in 2002 and 2003 alone, making Marvel a leading player in this growing industry. Based on its current pipeline, Marvel believes cumulative unit sales will exceed 30 million through the end of 2005. There are currently three video game franchises based on Marvel characters each having sales of over two million units, indicating the strength of the Marvel brand in this important consumer product category.
Seven Marvel character-branded video games are scheduled for release through December 2005 under video game license agreements with Activision, Encore, Universal Games, THQ and EA. One of the most highly anticipated releases of 2004 is the Spider-Man 2 movie game, which is being developed by Activision and is scheduled to be released in June prior to the movie’s theatrical release. The next title in the popular Spider-Man movie game franchise builds upon impressive sales of the original offering, which has sold more than six million units since May 2002. Other scheduled video game releases in 2004 include “X-Men Legends”, building upon the successful X-Men franchise, which is also being developed by Activision.
“The performance of the Marvel brand in the interactive market is extremely impressive. As Marvel’s video game pipeline continues to expand, we believe that the marketing power of this influential product category will fuel higher licensing income and consumer exposure for Marvel,” said Gui Karyo, Marvel’s President of Publishing.
Marvel’s newly created in-house video game division will work with leading developers and publishers to create future titles. Video game titles scheduled for release over the next several years include:
-“Spider-Man 2 Movie”, Activision – Summer 2004
-“X-Men Legends”, Activision – Fall 2004
-“The Punisher”, THQ – 2005
-“Fantastic Four”, Activision – 2005
-“Iron Man”, Activision – 2005
-“The Hulk 2”, Vivendi-Universal – 2005
-“Marvel and EA Super Heroes”, EA – 2005
-“Marvel Universe MMP”, Vivendi-Universal – TBA
Source: Marvel Enterprises
