Marvel`s Blade Announced | The Game Awards 2023

Seems great. Want to see more of this before I get really excited though. Blade has huge Devil may cry action potential if they do him justice. Would be a shame if it gets bogged down by meaningless side-questing which proliferates many modern AAA games. Just give me stylish balls-to-the-wall crazy action with a high skill ceiling and remove the fat.

EDIT: Hang on, Paris? Com'on it should've been a setting like New York city.
 
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Zuzu said:
I agree. I'm not happy about this. First person Dishonored-style would've been the way to go imo. They could have had third-person cutscenes and dialogue scenes if they wanted to display the character (like how Deus Ex does it).
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So you want it to be a dishonored game? Why not go play dishonored instead.

Come On Reaction GIF by MOODMAN
 
James Sawyer Ford said:
Microsoft doesn't want to miss out on that Spider Man type success

Honestly a nice surprise. Could be a case similar to Insomniac which struggled to make their own IP but absolutely killed it with a big super hero IP

But it's also one of those games that seems like it would struggle being Xbox exclusive, which really limits the audience as most super hero fans are probably hugely aligned with PlayStation
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They actually have a huge chance to capitalize on the Xbox as they didn't have a competing super hero game. Blade seems perfect for Arcane, they are great at traversal and melee combat. Excited to see this develop, could be a huge franchise.
 
Sacred said:
They actually have a huge chance to capitalize on the Xbox as they didn't have a competing super hero game. Blade seems perfect for Arcane, they are great at traversal and melee combat. Excited to see this develop, could be a huge franchise.
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I just don't see it hitting mainstream success even if the game is great if it's limited to the Xbox ecosystem

The fans of superhero games are defecto on PlayStation
 
Darsxx82 said:
???

Indiana Jones license is light years away in value vs Blade, which is a third-class Marvel license in comparison.

It is clear that Disney/Marvel has the last word, but the fact is that MS was able to agree to the exclusivity of IJ with Disney. Blade could be even simpler. Because, at the end of the day, PC+XBOX has a more than enough installed base, even larger than that of PS5.
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Marvel probably has zero expectations of Blade to sell, especially with it on GamePass. We'll never know the details, but since it is on GamePass, you could only imagine that Microsoft had to pay for the license explicitly rather than any sort of profit sharing.

The game is basically a test for both Microsoft and Marvel and a reaction to Marvel's Spider-Man and maybe even Marvel's Wolverine.

It's a relatively low stakes gamble for both companies.

But you'll note that as you mentioned it's a 3rd rate IP and they agreed for it to go onto GamePass.

This isn't Avengers collectively or individually, Hulk, Daredevil/Defenders, Silver Surfer, Guardians, X-Men, Deadpool, Fantastic 4, Black Panther, e.t.c.

They're just trying to see if they can make a decent game before giving them a bigger IP and the impact of GamePass on the game's sales and revenue.

Meanwhile, Sony also has a test with Wolverine. If the game is a success, I think we can anticipate X-Men next. You look at the properties Marvel already has in production or just recently made and there aren't a TON of options for Microsoft.
 
James Sawyer Ford said:
I don't see how Microsoft plans to skip PlayStation with this and reach the mainstream given the current market landscape
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The goal here for Microsoft is to create a well received game with the license and hope that Marvel will give them a better property next. They would have gone to Marvel and said hey Arkane Lyon made Deathloop and the game is an 88 and so is Dishonored 2.

They have a pretty good track record.
 
yanhash said:
So you want it to be a dishonored game? Why not go play dishonored instead.

Come On Reaction GIF by MOODMAN
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annnnnnnnnd that literally was probably why Marvel wanted 3rd person only. They knew people would draw that similarity and likely want this to be its own thing and recognizable from afar.
 
Mibu no ookami said:
The goal here for Microsoft is to create a well received game with the license and hope that Marvel will give them a better property next. They would have gone to Marvel and said hey Arkane Lyon made Deathloop and the game is an 88 and so is Dishonored 2.

They have a pretty good track record.
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Maybe.

Blade is kinda niche so maybe expectations aren't super high like Spider-Man

Still…would see a lot more success on PlayStation
 
Marvel is trying to make a video game cinematic universe. The problem with that is that games take A LONG time to develop.

It's also prudent to not put all your eggs in the Sony basket and vice versa.

Blade being made by Microsoft has the smallest impact on Sony's end of the Marvel universe.

I think the plan for Sony would look as such:

Spider-Man 2018 > Spider-Man Miles Morales 2022 > Spider-Man 2 2023 > Wolverine 2024 > Venom 2025 > Spider-Man 3 2027> X-Men 2028 > Avengers 2030

That would make X-Men either a cross gen game or a PS6 game and Avengers would be a PS6 game and also putting significant time since 2020's Avengers.
 
yanhash said:
So you want it to be a dishonored game? Why not go play dishonored instead.

Come On Reaction GIF by MOODMAN
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Yes, I would like to see this game as an immersive sim in the spirit and style of Dishonored, i.e. an immersive sim. Their comments at TGA and the studio's legacy suggest this may be an immersive sim. They suggested it's already going down the immersive sim gameplay route when they said you can play it any way you want (and this is Arkane who traditionally make immersive sims). Immersive sims have traditionally worked best in first person (Prey, Deus Ex, Dishonoured, System Shock). Other games similar to immersive sims have also worked best in first person (e.g. Bioshock).
 
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James Sawyer Ford said:
Maybe.

Blade is kinda niche so maybe expectations aren't super high like Spider-Man

Still…would see a lot more success on PlayStation
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They're both going into this with open eyes that it might not sell super well. Microsoft just needs to get a taste of the Marvel train. They can't let Sony monopolize that. Similarly, Marvel can't become too dependent on Sony or ignore Xbox.
 
Zuzu said:
I didn't say make it a copy of Dishonored. I said Dishonored-style which is to say a first-person immersive sim. They suggested it's already going down the immersive sim gameplay route when they said you can play it any way you want (and this is Arkane who make immersive sims). Immersive sims have traditionally worked best in first person.
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And super hero games work best as third person.

You diminish the character greatly if you don't actually see them most of the time
 
Mibu no ookami said:
They're both going into this with open eyes that it might not sell super well. Microsoft just needs to get a taste of the Marvel train. They can't let Sony monopolize that. Similarly, Marvel can't become too dependent on Sony or ignore Xbox.
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Yeah but if they make an 85/100 Blade game that flops commercially what's the point? Make a sequel that does the same?
 
Had zero interest until I saw the Arkane logo. What a fantastic fit with the IP. This could actually turn out to be pretty great.
 
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Zuzu said:
I said Dishonored-style which is to say a first-person immersive sim
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Look, I get what you mean and even I still disagree with this.

It doesn't matter, people will see it as a clone, copy and paste etc. You have people claiming Far Cry, Watchdogs, Assassin's Creed are all copies of the same shit, even with different perspectives, genres, different developers etc

Yet you expect this level of brain dead gamer to get that these are different games?

Are you sure they will understand that?


So I see why Marvel likely only wanted 3rd person. They want the quality of the team, they don't want the stigma of their past titles being forced upon the IP as to have people avoid it based on preconceived notions of what they "think" the game is.

S Sacred Look, I'm buying this game day 1 and even I agree with what James Sawyer Ford James Sawyer Ford is saying here. I hope it does well, but I wouldn't be shocked if it didn't.

Not everyone is going to be near the caliber of a Insomniac and I wouldn't be shocked if Marvel choose this team because Insomniac turned down the contract cause they are already working on Spiderman, Wolverine and likely others.
 
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James Sawyer Ford said:
And super hero games work best as third person.

You diminish the character greatly if you don't actually see them most of the time
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I agree that action-adventure super hero games work best in 3rd person. But this most likely won't be like Batman or Spiderman which are action-adventure games. If this is an immersive sim, then those are generally best in first person. Hopefully they'll be able to translate the gameplay systems of immersive sim into the 3rd person format successfully.
 
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I am so happy this is going to be a mature third person action adventure. I hope for lots of dismemberment and gory ass gameplay.
 
EDMIX said:
Look, I get what you mean and even I still disagree with this.

It doesn't matter, people will see it as a clone, copy and paste etc. You have people claiming Far Cry, Watchdogs, Assassin's Creed are all copies of the same shit, even with different perspectives, genres, different developers etc

Yet you expect this level of brain dead gamer to get that these are different games?

Are you sure they will understand that?


So I see why Marvel likely only wanted 3rd person. They want the quality of the team, they don't want the stigma of their past titles being forced upon the IP as to have people avoid it based on preconceived notions of what they "think" the game is.
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I understand why Marvel would want it to be 3rd person and I understand why many people would want it to be 3rd person. I agree that it's better for the IP and for a player's identification with a super hero that the super hero should be visible on screen at all times. But when I consider this as an immersive sim I don't prefer it and it's better for it to be first person if that's the genre they're going for. But perhaps this won't be an immersive sim. I'm assuming it is based on the short thing they said about gameplay at TGA and the studio's legacy. And even if it is I understand why they've decided to go third person. Whether that will be best for gameplay, I'll have to wait and see. Traditionally, that genre works best in first person though.
 
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Interested to see how MS handles the exclusivity with this one.
On the Marvel YouTube channel video there is no single mention of MS or Xbox, only Bethesda and Zenimax.

I am not a fan of Arkane art style and the trailer looks like a CGI to me, but i hope they change their art style a little and go for something more realistic.

Edit:
I can't find the trailer listed on the official xbox channel on YouTube.
What are the chances, Disney won't allow it to be an exclusive?
 
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James Sawyer Ford said:
Yeah but if they make an 85/100 Blade game that flops commercially what's the point? Make a sequel that does the same?
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Doesn't have to be a sequel to Blade.

Not sure if an 85 would warrant further investment, but the key here would be if they make a competent enough game, they could get a more popular character next and they can evaluate the number of people who buy the game vs play it on gamepass so they can create a more accurate deal for another game.
 
Meh. I much prefer Wesley Snipes take on the character. Seeing Blade tell him to "turn that shit up," even though that shit wasn't even that good and him tapping his toes to it just does not seem very Blade-like.

It just reminds me that we're going to get a shitty PG-13 Blade movie from Disney where Blade jokes too much. Though, what is hilarious is that even though this game is probably in early development, it'll probably come out before that movie does.
 
schaft0620 said:
You guys notice how all Xbox and Game Pass branding is missing? And that this is the only new game missing platforms?

Marvel and Bethesda are listed as the publisher. Not XGS.
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Xbox wasn't branded on Starfield, Redfall and Hi-Fi Rush. Since Bethesda still operates as separate publisher.
Same reason why you didn't saw Xbox logo on Modern Warfare 3.

So drawing conclusion based of that is strange.

However, I'm pretty confused about "just started development" statement.
Former dev of Arkane Lyon said that he worked on game for a year. And he is already 7 months into his new job at Crytek.



So it's clear that game is already in some form of development for 1,5 years.
 
JohnnyFootball said:
Dude, go look at the fucking box office for the last Indiana Jones film. It flopped and flopped hard. IJ has long passed. Its value has never been lower. A good IJ game can change that. Blade by itself doesn't have much value, but the Marvel brand when the content is good still sells well as Spider-Man 2 and No Way Home proved. Marvel, however, is no longer bulletproof and audiences are no longer seeing just anything they put out.

Nobody truly knows if Blade is exclusive, but Sony has far greater negotiating power to secure an exclusive than Xbox does as Spider-Man and Wolverine prove.
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It likely can't. Indiana Jones is a franchise that stands on Harrison Ford's personal likeability and charisma, and it also stood on a past generation's love of pulp novels.

That generation is largely too old to care, not to mention that Ford himself is too old to give any new IJ property any kind of meaningful push.

Sony basically took over any modern IJ audience with Uncharted.

JohnnyFootball said:
What do you mean there is "no way" ? How does that work? Microsoft has no leverage. Marvel has all the power to say you (Arkane) can develop it and put it on all platforms or we will ship it to other developers.

I'm not saying it's not exclusive, I actually believe it is, but it 100% makes no sense for Xbox branding to be completely absent from official marketing. Not one of you apologists has been able to offer a valid reason.
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Very strange to me that there's no branding. Even if the game was next gen, they could have just gone with "coming to the Xbox family" or something.

I'm a huge Blade mark and my Xbox needs something to do so it being exclusive isn't a big issue to me, but the key is to announce things like that in advance.

This instead feels like a way to keep options open which is just odd.

Heisenberg007 said:
Most likely will be an exclusive, but very odd that no Xbox-related branding showed up in the trailer.

The game is likely a 2027-2028 game at this point. May even be a cross-gen game.
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2027-2028..🤔
 
Imagine MS going to Disney after blades' launch and bragging about 5 million engagement numbers while SM2 over here is doing that in sales. I wonder if that'll impact how Marvel decides to dish out future IP?
 
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I am not a huge fan of the artstyle for a blade game but I am happy its third person. Cautious about this, i would have preferred Dishonored 3 from them.

My biggest concern is it feels a very long way from being finished. Why not just wait until you can show gameplay soon.
 
StratosGK said:
What are the chances, Disney won't allow it to be an exclusive?
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Slim I imagine, but who knows.

I'd guess Indiana Jones is a more valuable IP than Blade, and if they let that be Xbox exclusive I don't see why they'd have a problem with Blade being Xbox exclusive.

Time will tell though, and either way it'll still be out on PC.
 
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Could be that the deal with Marvel was done before MS bought Zenimax, and now MS has to untangle themselves from some weird contract.
 
Spitfire098 said:
Imagine MS going to Disney after blades' launch and bragging about 5 million engagement numbers while SM2 over here is doing that in sales. I wonder if that'll impact how Marvel decides to dish out future IP?
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You forgot to mention Spiderman is 20 times more popular than Blade, so sales wise it shouldn't do better than SM, SM2 or Wolverine
 
Wtf I didn't know it was Arkane...

Why is it 3rd person, they've never done a 3rd person game before.

I think it's time to say goodbye to Arkane for good
 
I'll say one thing.

This absolutely feels like Arkane choosing Blade. I can see this 100%

Like Microsoft and Marvel or whoever said - What Superhero Marvel game would you want to make and they all looked at each other and went....

......BLADE

I just hope it's legit awesome!
 
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Astray said:
It likely can't. Indiana Jones is a franchise that stands on Harrison Ford's personal likeability and charisma, and it also stood on a past generation's love of pulp novels.

That generation is largely too old to care, not to mention that Ford himself is too old to give any new IJ property any kind of meaningful push.

Sony basically took over any modern IJ audience with Uncharted.
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Disney made a huge mistake with Dial of Destiny being another Harrison Ford movie after Crystal Skulls.

They had an opportunity to recast Indiana Jones as Chris Pratt and I think it would have kicked off another generation of Indiana Jones.

I don't think anyone really cares about Indiana Jones now. You're right. Uncharted is this generation's Indiana Jones, which is also interesting, because Disney also missed out with National Treasure.

Sony probably thought they had a long term roadmap with casting Mark Wahlberg as Sully, but it was a mistake. You'll struggle to keep him long term and his draw power as a star is significantly diminished. If you map out Uncharted like Mission Impossible, you're looking at 30 years worth of movies. 20+ years for fast and the furious.

So you decide to start out with a young Nathan Drake to extend how long these can go without recasting. Holland was 26 when the first movie came out.

In Uncharted 4, Nathan is 38 and Sully is 65. He is supposed to meet Sully at age 15 but they kind of cruise over that for the sake of the movie, which was a mistake, but I degree.


You assume Nathan Drake is 25 (Holland was probably 25 when he filmed) and that is the timeline the movie sets up. Mark Wahlberg is 52, so about 50 when he filmed.

Uncharted 4 would take place 13 years later in real time, that would put Holland at 38 and Wahlberg at 63 very much in line with the characters as we know them.

Looking at 25 year old actors Holland easily made the most sense. I think Owen Wilson would have made a better Sully or maybe Sam Rockwell, but they wanted someone who was a bigger star now, kind of in line with movies like the Nice Guys or the Other Guys.
 
EDMIX said:
annnnnnnnnd that literally was probably why Marvel wanted 3rd person only. They knew people would draw that similarity and likely want this to be its own thing and recognizable from afar.
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Zuzu said:
Yes, I would like to see this game as an immersive sim in the spirit and style of Dishonored, i.e. an immersive sim. Their comments at TGA and the studio's legacy suggest this may be an immersive sim. They suggested it's already going down the immersive sim gameplay route when they said you can play it any way you want (and this is Arkane who traditionally make immersive sims). Immersive sims have traditionally worked best in first person (Prey, Deus Ex, Dishonoured, System Shock). Other games similar to immersive sims have also worked best in first person (e.g. Bioshock).
Click to expand...

The developers vision should be prioritized over the i.p holder and the fanbases opinion, I cant stress this enough. Just like CPR made witcher 3 third person and cyberpunk first person, whether its movies or videogames, the developers/directors vision comes first, whether it works or doesn't come release day, its up to them.
 
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