The prospect of the celebrated XCOM team, Firaxis, making a Marvel-themed superhero strategy game is mouthwatering. Pairing a team of that talent with a licence of that appeal is inspired. All you have to do is substitute in superheroes, don’t you?
Marvel’s Midnight Suns
- Developer: Firaxis
- Publisher: Take-Two
- Availability: Releases 7th October on PC, Playstation 4/5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. Available at an unspecified later date on Nintendo Switch
But what if it’s not so simple working with Marvel? That is a world-conquering entertainment brand that would have every right to be precious about its heroes and intellectual property. And what if the XCOM formula didn’t actually work very well with superheroes? Which self-respecting superhero would take cover in a battle, after all?
These are some of the many things Firaxis creative director Jake Solomon talks to Ian Higton about, as he details, openly and generously, the process of making Marvel’s Midnight Suns. The game will be released 7th October on PlayStation and Xbox consoles, and PC. A Nintendo Switch version will be available at an unspecified later date.
Eurogamer: Okay, Jake, every Marvel superhero has their own origin story. Can you tell us the origin story of Marvel’s Midnight Suns?
Jake Solomon: So we had just wrapped up – well, actually, we hadn’t wrapped up, we were about to finish work on XCOM 2: War of the Chosen – and then our publisher, 2K, reached out and said that Marvel had contacted them and specifically wanted to know if our team wanted to make a game in the Marvel Universe. And I am a very hardcore Marvel Comics guy so my initial reaction was an immediate yes.