Well, this story sounds familiar. Square-Enix has revealed in its earnings report that Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy from Eidos Montréal has fallen short of its sales expectations. Some might recall, there was a similar issue with the launch of Marvel’s Avengers back in 2019. There’s a curious trend with Square’s Western produced releases facing some curious sales issues, especially if you look back to the Tomb Raider franchise that is now under their Western production houses.
Also, similar to with Avengers back in the day, they are positive that the game will manage to make up for its low early sales at a later point. IT’s only drawback is that it isn’t a Games-as-a-Service model, which helped support Crystal Dynamic’s Marvel venture to continue growing since its initial launch. The report, as shared by VG Chartz is as followed:
The HD Games sub-segment launched Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy in Q3. Despite strong reviews, the game’s sales on launch undershot our initial expectations. However, sales initiatives that we kicked off in November 2021 and continued into the new year have resulted in sales growth, and we intend to work to continue to expand sales to make up for the title’s slow start.
Sadly, it really seems like Square-Enix has a problem marketing its projects effectively, especially when it comes to their Western productions. They are still synonymous with Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and so much more. Yet, one of the biggest brands in the world is struggling under their umbrella while Insomniac’s games seem to strive. Of course, Spider-Man is a very different beast from a marketing standpoint but it is still curious. There’s also the issue that Square constantly overpredicts its sales, as in 2013 alone three of their Western productions sold far below their expectations. We’ll see if we hear more and get an announcement on a potential sequel in the near future.
