News has come out of Marvel working with NetEase on a number of new projects. The companies will be collaborating on new game projects, comic books, and even TV shows.
Marvel and NetEase announced the strategic partnership during the latter’s Annual Product Launch. The partnership aims to focus on projects for the Chinese market.
“As a global leader in online games, NetEase is the perfect fit to help bring the Marvel Universe to more fans around the world,” stated Dan Buckley, president of Marvel Entertainment. “We can’t wait to share more about the exciting new games and other content that will be developed with this partnership.” Buckley also specifically singled out games as one of the best ways to experience their stories.
For their part, William Ding, founder and CEO of NetEase, said that the company is excited to incorporate Marvel’s characters and stories into its products. Ding states that “adhering to NetEase’s brand statement of ‘Passion of Gamers’, we will work hard to deliver the type of high-quality content that game players and Marvel fans will be pleased to see.”
With the games targeted at China, this news may not really matter to traditional gamers outside of the country. Additionally, the company’s most recent licensed game, Diablo Immortal, is a mobile game that has been negatively received by fans. That said, NetEase’s recent investments may interest western gamers in any possible Marvel games it may make.
The Chinese company recently invested in both Bungie and Quantic Dream. Bungie has already stated that NetEase’s investment has allowed the company to operate multiple teams in the studio. It’s not hard to imaging one of these teams working on a Marvel game for Bungie. Meanwhile, Quantic Dream has made a name for itself with its focus on storytelling games that feel more like interactive dramas. A game of this type being used to tell a Marvel super hero story would definitely catch the eyes of fans.
