Yesterday at their panel at PAX East 2020, Marvel and Netmarble announced a new mobile open world online RPG, Marvel Future Revolution. Ahead of the reveal, we met with representatives from Netmarble America and Marvel Games to talk about what we can expect from this new game.
You may remember that Netmarble and Marvel have worked together before on a game called Marvel Future Fight, an isometric RPG with some social and multiplayer elements. Marvel Future Revolution is a spinoff of this game, but unlike Future Fight, which is more of an isometric action RPG, Future Revolution is much more of an MMORPG on your phone. The devs described several open world zones where players can see and interact with other players, and the camera will be third person chase-cam, with a control scheme mimicking that of more traditional MMOs.
By the way, if you are a Future Fight fan and are worried about the continued development of that game, the team was quick to assure me that it was not going anywhere. The studio reps said they will be continuing development on both games separately and side-by-side, and in fact they just got done planning out the next year or more of production.
The team was particularly proud of the graphics in Marvel Future Revolution, which the devs feel are “console quality” on a mobile device. They said that they are always looking to push the limits of what is possible on a mobile device, and it certainly shows! I am told that the videos provided to us are captured in-engine using game assets, and I must admit that it certainly looks impressive given the technical limitations inherent in phones and tablets.
The story of Marvel Future Revolution revolves around an event called the Convergence, where multiple parallel universes have begun to collide with each other, creating strange and interesting new worlds for the player to explore. The player’s chosen hero will be a newly recruited member of the Omega Flight, which is sort of like a multi-universal Avengers, the last hope for the universe’s survival.
The playable heroes that make up Omega Flight include Captain Marvel, Captain America, Peter Parker’s Spider-Man, and Doctor Strange. Netmarble was only ready to reveal these four heroes and was not ready to talk about any upcoming characters, or the final number of heroes available at launch. Rest assured, though, that as the game continues to expand and evolve, more heroes will become playable.
Locales in this newly converged universe that Netmarble showcased include Sakaar, the barren wasteland planet and setting of the widely popular Planet Hulk arc (which MCU fans will remember as part of Thor: Ragnarok); New Stark City, a high-tech, futuristic city from a world where Tony Stark’s technology reigns supreme; and finally Xandearth, a fusion of Earth and Xandar, the home of the cosmic space police force, Nova Corps. It sounds like Netmarble will have no shortage of fun new twists on settings familiar to Marvel fans old and new, from across all kinds of Marvel media.
Not only will players be able to explore a variety of zones from locations throughout the Marvel multiverse, but they’ll be able to customize their characters to match a variety of different realities. The footage I saw included hero variants from the comic books, such as Spider-Punk and Hydra Captain America. It also included outfits themed around the exotic locales of Future Revolution, including gladiator outfits for Spidey, Doctor Strange, and Starktech outfits for Captains America and Marvel. Beyond simply reskinning characters, players are able to customize certain dyes and textures on their character. The team explained that, since players will all be playing as existing characters from around the Marvel universe, they wanted each player to feel unique and distinct within the game world. The exact method of unlocking these customization options is apparently something that Netmarble is not ready to discuss at this time, so stay tuned for more information on that.
The team also wanted to convey the idea that this game was for anyone, casual gamers, hardcore RPG gamers, long-time comic fans, or someone who is entering the multiverse for the first time. Netmarble wants to include references to delight fans from across the entire spectrum of Marvel multimedia, including references reaching as far back as the silver age to as recently as last year’s Red Goblin, who is confirmed as a villain you face in the game. The scenario writer for Future Fight, Marc Sumerak, has been with Marvel for over 20 years, so it seems like the IP is in good hands.
I asked if they had any idea on a launch window for the game, and the only answer I was met with was “Stay tuned, true believers!” Also, because I know our readers will inevitably ask, I inquired about the possibility of a PC or console port. The studios told me that they never rule anything out but that Netmarble believes in the power of the mobile platform and are focusing on that at this time. But if you are interested in a superhero MMO experience you can fit in your pocket, you will definitely want to keep an eye on Marvel Future Revolution!
