Activision Marvel Titles Removed from Xbox Live

Activision Marvel Titles Removed from Xbox Live

42
Lee Bradley

Activision’s Marvel titles has been removed from a number of digital distribution hubs, including Xbox Live, PSN and Steam.

Among the games to disappear are Deadpool, Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, Spider-Man: Edge of Time, X-Men: The Official Game, X-Men Destiny and X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

No reason has been given for the removal of these titles. All Activision has said on the subject is that they were made unavailable at the end of 2013. The obvious reason is that Activision’s license agreement with Marvel has come to an end, but that’s purely speculation.

The news may also may add some weight to a story that popped up over the Christmas break, in which someone claiming to be a former artist on Deadpool suggested that working conditions on the game were less than great.

“We had a couple of weeks were we crunched pretty aggressively on Deadpool,” said 'wester' on the Polycount forums. “Having Activision cut and cut and CUT just took its tole on so many of us. 

“For a studio to demand that we do mandatory overtime for a project and then keep cutting so much time and money from it was ridiculous. At about halfway into development we were told that we weren't even aiming very high in terms of score.

“Can you imagine working on a game where your higher ups say ‘yeah we're shooting for a 64 or lower’ and then have them give you mandatory overtime? 

“Btw I'm not shit talking the game. These are just facts. I hate that people find that they can't talk about these sorts of things out of fear of being ‘blacklisted’ or whatever. These kinds of business practices shouldn't happen period. The reward for doing overtime, is knowing that you're contributing to a damn good game, people are going to love and be inspired by what you do, good reviews and the FAIR possibility of bonuses.”

It’s an interesting claim. If Activision knew that the game would be removed from sales within just a few months of release (Deadpool came out in June 2013), then it may explain why the publisher’s aspirations for the title were so low.

Comments
42
  • A shame really. Deadpool has a devoted fan base and the potential for a quality game was there. Sorry to see Activision push the bottom line so hard just to make a quick buck.
  • Maybe if they named it "Call of Deadpool" or "Modern Marvel Warfare" they would have cared about the development a little bit more. The rushing doesn't much surprise me though, Activision strives on pushing out new trash for profit ASAP year after year, it's the way they make the most money off of gullible "gamers" annually. Keep on buying Call of Duty games everyone, fill the pockets of these selfish slobs.
  • wow crazy does activison have any arcade marvel titles as I know marvel vs Capcom was just removed as well as it seems all the contracts for marvel are up.
  • sorry for the double post but I just thought who will get the license now is it ea due to the partnership with Disney?
  • So this is why these games have been on sale so frequently? I knew something was up.
  • @5, I think that's a fair point. Make a bit more money on them befor they get removed. Wonder if this claim is true.
  • I guess that's why the spiderman games were on sale twice in a month :p
  • @1: Not Funny.
  • I've just got the Deadpool game and I'm really enjoying it. It's hilarious, has a crazy story arc and has solid fighting and shooting mechanics, what more could you ask for?
  • I've always wanted a Spider-Man game in the style of Mirror's Edge... EA!!!
  • I hope you all realize we as gamers have the power to stop Activision, if 70% of all gamers boycotted Activision, I'm certain they'd stop this shit
  • @8 - EA put the Harry Potter games out. No shits given about quality at all. The huge publishers are all the same.
  • @8 yes u did purchase dead pool but does that really give u the right to pirate someones hard work cause u dont like the company that publish it thats pretty stupid. Do not pirate games it takes money away from the developers. and then new games will not be made
  • This is the problem with licensed games, particularly comic book properties. As for Activision, it's a wonder some games do turn out to be interesting (Ultimate Alliance 2, Spiderman SD and Edge of Time, TF Cybertron duo), considering they are made on tight budgets and lower manpower.
  • The problem is that Activision uses licensed games as a way to "cash in" on the franchise without allowing the time for a quality game to be made. Look at 007 Legends, the TMNT games, the Fast & Furious game, and now Deadpool. They just care about the payday and not the experience they are providing for the consumer.
  • Activision makes awful games with no depth, just literally the same game literally 5 times a year. Remember Tony Hawk's Pro Skater? Call of Duty? Guitar Hero? Only ignorant 12 year olds play those games. Maybe if Activision gave two shits about their quality, consumers, AND employees, their products won't end up in gamestops $.99 bin. You'd think with all that dlc $$$ they wouldn't be running a borderline sweatshop. It's just sad.
  • License expiring is just another example of why a "disc-less" console will not work. Deadpool wasn't even out for a year, yet if there wasn't a physical copy out there anybody who didn't get the game w/in the first year would miss out on it entirely. Granted the spidey titles have been out a while longer but there are A LOT of gamers who don't get around to certain titles till YEARS LATER!!! How long has shattered dimensions been out? Still haven't played it but I would like to get around to it eventually. It is bad enough all these games that have online only cheevos yet get their servers shut down w/ a quickness (sup EA?)
  • I dont know what happened to Activision. I just feel like their whole focus is on Call of duty franchise and for other games they are like meh who cares lets just publish them and push developers beyond limits. I mean they used to make good games some time ago mostly movie games. I dont know but i used to enjoy Spiderman3 game on pc some time ago. now they are destroying franchises and not caring bout nothing except call of duty
  • Poor sales? Dead pool was fantastic but no one wanted it. High moon studios make brilliant games, I can't fault them. The rest of the games where pure crap.
  • Good job we're not all digital only heh.
  • The Amazing Spider-Man 2 coming later this year for Cinemas and Activision release game around movie release. Look forward The Amazing Spider-Man 2. :)
  • I bought 1 of those Spider Man games during the holidays when they were on sale. Since i downloaded it before it got removed, I can still play it though right? What happens if i get a new xbox and i go to download history to re-download this game? Will it even let me re-download it if it got removed from Xbox Live? Did i just get fucked by buying the game digitally instead of on a disc?!
  • @24 Yes you can. I still can download the Yaris game and it was removed from the marketplace like 5 years ago.
  • At least they won't be [always] on sale...
  • Another reason to dislike Activision. I had such high hopes for Deadpool, and it fell so, so short of them. This makes perfect sense, as High Moon is a quality developer. Also, if Activision lost the Marvel license, how is that they're releasing a Spider-Man game in a few months time?
  • @27: It'll be because they are releasing Amazong Spider-Man 2, which is a Sony property. Somy hold rights for Spidy (or at least things related to thr movies) from Marvel.
  • I liked Deadpool enough to 100% it, but I still think it had so much room for improvement. Hopefully Wacktivision loses their Marvel rights forever. They make such ugly ass games, there's no reason Spidey games should look so cheap and unpolished.
  • I don't know if I should feel bad about buying the game new. I mean, High Moon DID get money from it, but so did Assivision. I had a feeling they woud be pushing and cutting at the game. If developers are just left to make their games it would be so much better.
  • Let's just hope that Marvel don't resign with Activision, these games deserve a fighting chance of being decent and that'll never happen under Milkavision.
  • Ain't marvel owned by Disney now maybe Activision knew they aren't gettin new games with the liscence
  • This all reminds me of when they churned out that Marvel UA2 DLC only for it to be delisted some 6 weeks later due to them losing their license and as a consequence a major backlash from fans ensued. Guess they haven't learned from that mistake...
  • @19 - Activision doesn't make games, they publish them. And not every game needs depth. Remember, these are entertainment products. You don't watch only serious and amazing movies do you? Games are no different. Sure those games lack depth and are pretty mindless, but that's what is appealing about them. They're fun (well, they were fun until Lactivision milked them too hard)
  • Anyone find it odd that first the Marvel vs Capcom games were taken off the market and now all the other Marvel games are suddenly being removed as well? *peers at Disney*
  • ~37.. capcom has the same problem with the Marvel vs Capcom games as they were given the same licence agreements.. The amazing spiderman 2 game is still an activision game and for some reason that has a completely separate licence so that game is still scheduled for release
  • That's too bad they removed the games... they removed the DLC, too! I bought the DLC for "X-men Origins: Wolverine," as it was only 99 cents a few weeks ago. There wasn't any additional achievements, but it's worth it at that price. I remember a few years ago, the DLC (the games, too) for "Marvel Ultimate Alliance" (1 & 2) was pulled - and the DLC "did" have achievements for them! I got the "Special Edition" of the first game, but they never released one for the second (which is why I never bothered with it).
  • A thought occurs. I bought MvC2 and ended up deleting it to free up some space. Will I no longer be able to download it?
  • @41 - If you bought it, you can still download it. It's just unavailable to buy.
  • Hmm.. they could have at least tried some humor and shoot for a 69 instead of a 64.
  • Currently playing this game and I've enjoyed it very much. Just one more achievement! I just wish we could get more fun marvel games like x men legends or marvel ultimate Alliance, especially now with the strong hype surrounding the avengers.
  • They removed marvel ultimate alliance 1 and 2 and now they are removing the rest ... :(
  • Whatever the reasons, it is disappointing that all of these titles were removed. Time to hit the bargain bins in the physical stores...
  • Deadpool is BACK!
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