Marvel Universe Online, Take Two?

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Marvel Comics has reached a deal with Gazillion Entertainment, which doesn't even seem to have launched its complete website yet. I'm guessing once this deal is officially announced on Tuesday, we'll see a real website emerge.

This deal lasts 10 years, and since the first attempt at a MMO game based on the Marvel Universe died last year, they'd darn well better hope that 1) Gazillion makes it, and 2) the games don't suck.


Single player deals with other publishers aren't affected by this deal, by the way.

The first game expected from the deal is Super Hero Squad, in 2010.

Gazillion has, according to the Los Angeles Times, been operating in stealth mode since 2005. Despite that, it's snagged this deal with Marvel, as well as a deal with toy maker Lego, which has licensed Gazillion’s studio, NetDevil, to develop LEGO Universe.

According to Venture Beat, Gazillion got the license ...

because it’s spared no expense and hired a huge team across its four studios. Among its investors are Oak Investments, Allen & Company, Founder’s Fund, Hearst Corp. Investment Group, Revolution Ventures and UV Partners. The company has not disclosed how much money it’s raised to date. The management team includes Paul Baldwin, marketing chief, and former top marketing man at Eidos Interative, the maker of the Tomb Raider games.

More information later, when the deal is announced. Perhaps we'll even find out about Gazillion itself (though if they want us to pay attention, they'd better announce this before the 10 AM Apple Event).