Marvel Heroes Online/Omega is shutting down 31/12

Seelinnikoi

Welp, Marvel Heroes Online / Omega is shutting down next month.

RIP.   

I personally have hundreds of hours on it and put some serious dough on the game. It was fun while it lasted.

Official sources:

https://forums.marvelheroes.com/discussion/330038/official-statement-from-gazillion

https://marvelheroes.com/news/news-articles/marvel-heroes-omega-shutting-down

https://www.facebook.com/marvelheroes/

Other articles about this:

https://www.polygon.com/2017/11/15/16656948/marvel-heroes-shuts-down-gazillion-entertainment

https://kotaku.com/disney-shuts-down-marvel-heroes-1820475273

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2017/11/16/marvel-heroes-shutting-down-on-december-31/

http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/11/15/marvel-heroes-shut-down-by-disney

https://www.vg247.com/2017/11/16/marvel-heroes-is-shutting-down/

http://www.pcgamer.com/marvel-heroes-is-closing-down/

nariusseldon

Yeah .. Gazillion just does not know how to make money even with the biggest IP on the planet.

I am hoping someone else will make another good action RPG marvel game. But if not, i will just do something else. 

Albatroes

Seelinnikoi said:

Welp, Marvel Heroes Online / Omega is shutting down next month.

RIP.   

I personally have hundreds of hours on it and put some serious dough on the game. It was fun while it lasted.

Official sources:

https://forums.marvelheroes.com/discussion/330038/official-statement-from-gazillion

https://marvelheroes.com/news/news-articles/marvel-heroes-omega-shutting-down

https://www.facebook.com/marvelheroes/

Other articles about this:

https://www.polygon.com/2017/11/15/16656948/marvel-heroes-shuts-down-gazillion-entertainment

https://kotaku.com/disney-shuts-down-marvel-heroes-1820475273

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2017/11/16/marvel-heroes-shutting-down-on-december-31/

http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/11/15/marvel-heroes-shut-down-by-disney

https://www.vg247.com/2017/11/16/marvel-heroes-is-shutting-down/

http://www.pcgamer.com/marvel-heroes-is-closing-down/

Someone is late to the party....:

http://forums.mmorpg.com/discussion/comment/7247337/#Comment_7247337

Its funny that you have all those links from all those sites except this one lol

Robsolf

We should HOPE that it's because it wasn't making enough money.

Because if it's "just" about a disgusting d-bag who liked to sexually harass employees, then the "lesson" is pretty damn terrible.

"If I report this POS for the crap he's pulling, ALL OF US will lose our jobs, and everything we created will be gone."

Thanks, Mickey.

Tiamat64

If it was only about that disgusting d-bag, they would have simply replaced him.  The fact that they ditched the entire company instead is likely more due to other reasons, of which the whole "Not making enough money" thing has had the writing on the wall for forever now.

Scot

Tiamat64 said:

If it was only about that disgusting d-bag, they would have simply replaced him.  The fact that they ditched the entire company instead is likely more due to other reasons, of which the whole "Not making enough money" thing has had the writing on the wall for forever now.

I think it had not been profitable enough for some time, the CEO allegations simply made them wrap it up earlier.

Only silver lining here, maybe we will get a proper Marvel MMO now.

nariusseldon

Scot said:

Only silver lining here, maybe we will get a proper Marvel MMO now.

proper Marvel GAME. It is not like it has to be a MMO. 

syltmacka

Only silver lining here, maybe we will get a proper Marvel MMO now.

oh yea!!

maskedweasel

DMKano said:

It is because it's not making enough money.

That's always the primary reason why games shut down - no longer profitable.

Sometimes the reason is so obvious and so spelled out - and yet some people still go out into the weeds to try to find some tinfoil hat theory.

That's a primary reason in many cases, not in all cases, and possibly not in this case.

While it wasn't making enough money, the company didn't shut down because of it. It was Disney that pulled the string here not Gazillion.

MadFrenchie

nariusseldon said:

Scot said:

Only silver lining here, maybe we will get a proper Marvel MMO now.

proper Marvel GAME. It is not like it has to be a MMO. 

No, it does.

Vrika

maskedweasel said:

DMKano said:

It is because it's not making enough money.

That's always the primary reason why games shut down - no longer profitable.

Sometimes the reason is so obvious and so spelled out - and yet some people still go out into the weeds to try to find some tinfoil hat theory.

That's a primary reason in many cases, not in all cases, and possibly not in this case.

While it wasn't making enough money, the company didn't shut down because of it. It was Disney that pulled the string here not Gazillion.

It doesn't matter whether the decision was made by Gazillion or by Disney. It's still a question of how much money the game is making. Marvel is valuable IP and it needs to be making a lot of money to Disney. Marvel Heroes is shutting down because it wasn't making enough money.

SBFord

This was covered extensively in three separate pieces last week. Just FYI since you rudely excluded this very site from your linked coverage. LOL :P

https://www.mmorpg.com/marvel-heroes-omega/news/marvel-and-disney-cut-ties-with-gazillion-entertainment-mho-to-shut-down-1000046406

https://www.mmorpg.com/marvel-heroes-omega/news/updated-statement-from-the-mho-team-operations-to-cease-on-december-31st-1000046413

https://www.mmorpg.com/marvel-heroes-omega/news/refund-requests-piling-up-gazillion-remains-silent-1000046448

Scot

nariusseldon said:

Scot said:

Only silver lining here, maybe we will get a proper Marvel MMO now.

proper Marvel GAME. It is not like it has to be a MMO. 

Boo

Kajidourden

I didn't care for this game, it felt like hitting piñatas that don't fight back.  I literally fell asleep playing.

adam_nox

This game was actually a big money maker for a while.  And it's got the biggest roster of any marvel game, and was fast-paced and pretty damn fun.  It's gotten old and the content hasn't kept up, but throwing it away like this is almost as bad as losing city of heroes.

Ridelynn

Sad to see it go. It wasn't a perfect game, but it had a non-abusive F2P model and was pretty fun to play. I threw some cash their way when we were playing it pretty heavily, and I was excited to see it come to PS4.

One of the few games my whole family would play together.

SomethingUnusual

The game was fun -- though not my forte. 

I do suspect Disney had a hand in this. And potential changes coming as far as Marvel/Disney in the not too distant future with the bid to buy 21st Century media departments (Everything but news and sports) which gives them back the X-Men. Something games like this should have.

That said, I'm hopeful for a large budget Marvel game in the future. 

maskedweasel

Vrika said:

maskedweasel said:

DMKano said:

It is because it's not making enough money.

That's always the primary reason why games shut down - no longer profitable.

Sometimes the reason is so obvious and so spelled out - and yet some people still go out into the weeds to try to find some tinfoil hat theory.

That's a primary reason in many cases, not in all cases, and possibly not in this case.

While it wasn't making enough money, the company didn't shut down because of it. It was Disney that pulled the string here not Gazillion.

It doesn't matter whether the decision was made by Gazillion or by Disney. It's still a question of how much money the game is making. Marvel is valuable IP and it needs to be making a lot of money to Disney. Marvel Heroes is shutting down because it wasn't making enough money.

It absolutely matters if it was made by Gazillion or Disney.  Disney holds the license, Gazillion is the development studio.  If the studio has no money, no content goes out.  That wasn't the case. Gazillion was sitting on assets for planned releases per Disneys film and show timelines. 

The fact of the matter is, that isn't why the licenses were pulled.  

It was pulled the week of a huge console update with heavy monetization plans, the work was already done, the release was already planned to coincide with the Thor: Ragnarok release.

No official announcement from Gazillion or Disney explains why this was pulled.  

It also happened to coincide with several allegations of sexual harassment from the CEO, and also a shift of priorities to several new Marvel Games slated to release in early 2018.

Not to mention Gazillion had just signed the new contract not but 4 months prior for a 5 year extension... no, it's not just that they weren't making enough money.  They were making far less money when it was only the PC version.


Star Wars is a big IP.  Huge, actually.  When SWG was shut down, it wasn't due to them not making enough money, although that was one of the issues, but it ceased future development because BioWare acquired the license for The Old Republic. 

Vrika

maskedweasel said:

Star Wars is a big IP.  Huge, actually.  When SWG was shut down, it wasn't due to them not making enough money, although that was one of the issues, but it ceased future development because BioWare acquired the license for The Old Republic.

If SWG would have been making more money, then its license would never have been been given to Bioware.

For huge IPs like Star Wars or Marvel being profitable is not enough. The game needs to make more money than giving the license to another game would make.

maskedweasel

Vrika said:

maskedweasel said:

Star Wars is a big IP.  Huge, actually.  When SWG was shut down, it wasn't due to them not making enough money, although that was one of the issues, but it ceased future development because BioWare acquired the license for The Old Republic.

If SWG would have been making more money, then its license would never have been been given to Bioware.

For huge IPs like Star Wars or Marvel being profitable is not enough. The game needs to make more money than giving the license to another game would make.

But in this case, the licenses were already given out to Square Enix for an upcoming game and Sony for the other. 

The question is in the contract that was signed nary a few months prior.  Had Marvel worried that Gazillion wouldn't hit particular monetary benchmarks, they wouldn't have extended the license for as long as they did. especially after such low performance on the PC version leading up to the console release which undoubtedly garnered an influx of money.

No, the contract was likely absolved for other reasons aside from monetary benchmarks, and I wouldn't put it past Disney to have an opt out clause regarding the sexual harassment allegations the CEO was accused of, especially if he refused to leave the company.

But unfortunately we may never know.  Gazillion would still be in business today had the license not have been pulled.  If it was purely based around money and only money, they would have never renewed the contract, as Gazillion was doing much worse before.  

Case in point, several months back when Gazillion went to loot boxes, they posted the purchase rate of them, which was quite a lot more than they expected.  The new monetization scheme they setup was actually working in comparison to the PC version, hence why the Omega plans involved rolling out the Console changes to PC in the near future.   Money wise, they were doing better now than they likely had been for months, yet Marvel still renewed the license.. so.. :shrug:  it's a strange outcome. 

gaeanprayer

Vrika said:

maskedweasel said:

Star Wars is a big IP.  Huge, actually.  When SWG was shut down, it wasn't due to them not making enough money, although that was one of the issues, but it ceased future development because BioWare acquired the license for The Old Republic.

If SWG would have been making more money, then its license would never have been been given to Bioware.

For huge IPs like Star Wars or Marvel being profitable is not enough. The game needs to make more money than giving the license to another game would make.

Incorrect on Marvel Heroes. The studio just signed a deal to extend the license for the better part of another decade beyond the previous deal's promise of 2018. The deal included the removal of problematic heroes like the Fantastic Four and mutant characters that were previously in the works but were, since, canceled mid-production (Dazzler was one). Further, the console release was actually doing extremely well and was not only saving existing jobs in Gazillion but allowing them to hire additional staff. On both Gazillion and Disney's part, these are not the actions of people considering the viability of a product in just the immediate short term; the time the game was live following a renewed contract wasn't even enough for fiscal projections. 

The long-term profit of console port might be up for fair debate, but we clearly didn't get to see those projections before the signed and dotted contract was actually voided. This doesn't happen based on finances, particularly not finances that have yet to be fully realized beyond what had proven to be, in the immediate future, at least as good as projected if not much better. Considering legal fees, contract penalties, etc., that Disney would be ready to litigate through, their actions were extreme and justified only by the threat Gazillion's CEO posed to Disney's name, particularly given the extent of his predatory behavior and the current focus of sexual harrasment in socio-political discourse.

Were Gazillion able to distance themselves from CEbrO, the game would very likely continue for at least another year before their console income inevitably waned (once players had the opportunity to see what bullshit they were being fed about the game from its makers) and THEN the game would have been moved towards its sunset. But the CEO is not only difficult to remove in the best of circumstances, he was also placed in the seat of power by the bank that was funding Gazillion in the first place. For all intents and purposes, Disney's contract wasn't with Gazillion, it was with ROTH Capital Partners given how much Gazillion used Marvel Heroes as assets/collateral for their many MANY millions in bank loans (all public knowledge and google-able). There was no way for Gazillion to distance itself from their CEO, especially given that said-CEO also hired more people just like him in similar seats of power to solidify his power base (COO and others among those accused of the same behavior, one of which was fired for that behavior by Brevik then RE-HIRED once Von Dohrmann took over), and so Disney's only choice was to terminate the contract.

You're not entirely wrong, it is about money, but not the money the game was or wasn't making; rather, the money that would be lost due to the hit their company (Disney) and its IP (Marvel) would take by canoodling with someone very likely to be in dragged into a courtroom soon for an ass-load of criminal, sexual charges.

Seelinnikoi

SBFord said:

This was covered extensively in three separate pieces last week. Just FYI since you rudely excluded this very site from your linked coverage. LOL :P

https://www.mmorpg.com/marvel-heroes-omega/news/marvel-and-disney-cut-ties-with-gazillion-entertainment-mho-to-shut-down-1000046406

https://www.mmorpg.com/marvel-heroes-omega/news/updated-statement-from-the-mho-team-operations-to-cease-on-december-31st-1000046413

https://www.mmorpg.com/marvel-heroes-omega/news/refund-requests-piling-up-gazillion-remains-silent-1000046448

I am very sorry, I tried to find anything related to this on here before posting, that is why I did it.

Forgrimm

Rumor has it that the game may be shutting down much sooner than December 31st http://massivelyop.com/2017/11/22/rumor-gazillion-is-dead-and-marvel-heroes-is-shutting-down-friday-not-at-the-end-of-the-year/

maskedweasel

Forgrimm said:

Rumor has it that the game may be shutting down much sooner than December 31st http://massivelyop.com/2017/11/22/rumor-gazillion-is-dead-and-marvel-heroes-is-shutting-down-friday-not-at-the-end-of-the-year/

Nearly every former developer.. former meaning, they were all let go today, confirmed this to be true.

nariusseldon

well .. nothing lasts forever. It is not like there are no other games to play. I heard Square is making an Avenger game. Let's see if that is any good.