Marvel Just Dropped TWO New Games and Fans Are Schocked!

[Music] There's two new Marvel games coming. So, the first one that was announced was a fighting game called Marvel Token. I am really surprised to see this, why you would have a 2D fighter. I'm hearing things about 2KXO, which is Riots fighter, and that this has really made them afraid. There's questions about why this versus Marvel vs. Capcom, which has kind of perfected this. The character art looks great. So, for whatever reason, that was announced recently. And there's another one coming to mobile. It's a semi-action RPG that NEI is developing called Mystic Mayhem where you have three characters, but you're also using abilities with real-time elements. You could use Clash Royale potentially as a shorthand reference, although it's a radically different mechanic. There's that level of real-time element. And not only that, there was a confirmation at least from IGN that after the cancellation of Black Panther, EA is still making three three Marvel games. Wow. So, it is still a

bonanza. And I'm confused because the IP has never been weaker. Like Thunderbolt's returns in the box office were not good. That was not a great check-in with the MCU. So, I'm very surprised to see all these activities going on in franchise Marvel Land. Well, it's what we talk about all the time that, you know, in today's world, IP still works and still draws people in, reduces some of your, you know, CPI costs because you've got that. I mean, I think, God, I think there's something like 30 games with Marvel licenses out in the world. I don't think we're going to see a slowing of this, you know. Same thing with Star Wars. I think we're going to still see IP leading with a bunch of games. Yeah. I don't know. These actually these two games, the Marvel games look actually pretty good. Now that this is shovelware, this is really high quality product all of them. Maming gaming takes over as a good representation of the IP since Disney seems to be screwing it up every single year from an entertainment standpoint. Yeah. I mean, yeah. So, I don't know.

We'll carry the torch for a while until Disney gets their act together. I don't know. So, one last check-in before we leave. And I was really surprised to see this not just announced, but it looks like it's launched. Although we'll see next week if I got this one wrong, but it appears that Whittle Defender, which we had checked in a couple weeks ago from Habby, has launched. I was really surprised to see this. This is the one where you have characters in the center of a map, very similar to a game called The Tower, which has been scaling for a number of years now, and you're choosing abilities as waves of enemy come enemies come towards you. So, imagine taking Survivor.io and really moving the agency to move around, but still keeping a lot of those rogike abilities. I was super high on the game, but I was surprised to see them get this out the door this quickly. It would actually been in pre-registration for a little bit. So, one quick excuse is just to check it back in with Happy, like why they chose to hit the go button on this, which I was surprised by because both Cappy Bear Go and Archer 2 are in a really good place. They have hit, I would argue, equilibrium when it comes to at least

daily active users, and we see revenue starting to flatline as well. and they're looking like a group pair of games that are going to do around 600 million at least just in net IP revenue with ads thrown on top. And so this company, as we were talking about, is getting very close to getting on the top 20 publisher lists globally. And looks like it might be heading towards a billion dollar in and run rate. So surprised to hit the go button on this so quickly. The Fatoule is a disaster. I just don't understand how they ship this. I think it's because their timing. So, so the key issue is like the length of the levels. And because you don't have real-time elements, I think the length is maybe the same as like in an archer room, but remember you're going through 40 different rooms in Archer. And this might have a similar length, but because you're not moving, it feels like it's going much slower. And so the first Fatoule levels, normally you'd want quick feedback for the player. You want to establish the loop. And you really had to sit there for, I would argue, what maybe three or four minutes while waves of enemies were coming at you. And you can't 2x or 3x until the

third or fourth battle. I I was surprised to see them like make a choice like that. Usually they're pretty good at getting these metas out the door. The monetization doesn't feel as strong right now. I expected to be hit with a lot more passes. This is one of the marquee things Heavy does that people should really look at is that they had a lot of recurring monthly passes that are annuities. So I get a bundle of gems delivered to me every single day by paying an upfront price. Like annuities are something that they've really put back on the table, but I still see very few people like pursuing the happy meta or incorporating elements from that. the emphasis on leaderboards as big in Archer 2, like literally just straight up ranking power score. They've just been refining this meta over and over again and people start learning from them. And I think they'll do it again with Widow Defender, but this is such a bizarre launch that I have, you know, heart palpitations from Squad Busters. This is like shift something out the door. And look at they've done other games like SSS Snaker, which I, you know, probably wasn't in a place that they were ready to jump 300 million in, but they're like, "Hey, let's just shove it out. We can take more shots on goal when we have this meta established.

Watching some gameplay again. I'm just struck by art style. And what's the other one? Kingshot that we talk about. Yeah, we haven't gotten into a full conversation about that. That is another very interesting game. That's part of the 4X meta. Oh my god, I've been playing that game non-stop. Kingshot. Oh, I'm Yeah, I'm even spending money on that. It's like I have to admit though, it is kind of a poor man's 4X game. It's not like as egregious as other Forex games. Hab's done an exceptional job. Those guys are crushing it right now. Yeah, I think there is something to God the change in the art style and what is appropriate for what we would call a midcore game. You know, they're using this like super cute casual bright art style. Don't forget that they invented the term hyper casual. Like Archer was the original hyper casual. Like that was one of the first doof articles. You go back and listen to it. Still very insightful. So I think like they get marketing, they get meta, and that's the

secret to a lot of this, like combining those two things on mobile. I do. I mean, I remember playing Survivor.io for the first time, and I'm like, "Oh, this is like super easy." And then the next thing I know, I was in the deepest monetization pit optimizing all of my gear, you know, in 10 different slots. And I was like, "Oh, wow." like I've just entered, you know, a deep midcore game and and this looks cute. This looks like a I shouldn't use the word cute. I mean, it is visually cute, but it looks like you've got some, you know, rogike with three characters on the screen, enemy waves coming at you. You know, I imagine you optimize the hell out of all your slots. Very easy to make a meta around this. Very easy to do roambo, elemental damage, rock, paper, scissors, shoot. Like, they have the right elements here. And remember, it's passive gameplay, which opens up a lot of opportunities. Like, for instance, to have the auto play, to have the 5x, 4x, 10x speed booster. This is my kind of game, dude. You don't have to do nothing. It just does. It plays itself, you know? Like I don't have to like move around the screen or worry about being

all stressed out about arcade Yeah. What I didn't like about Survivor IO is you're moving around the screen and you could be playing for 20 minutes and then the session lengths were insane there, too. I guess that's another great point, Jen, is they didn't even break it up like Archer at least has like almost exit points naturally between rooms where you're selecting abilities. But surro.io is brutal. Yeah. No, I would like just throw the my phone because I would die 20 minutes in and I'm like, "Oh, you assholes." Like you That's the thing that I don't know gets me as a player is that I have now wasted my time and died. And I guess that's where, you know, have monetization because you just let me pay and I don't die. But no, this is cute. This is But I just think that we should do a little more around I should talk to Stan at Beta Head. What is going on with this art style, you know, just dominating for midcore games? Can you imagine 10 years ago going to dude like hardcore gamers and being like, "Hey, yeah, is this art

style for you?" Everyone would be like, "No, that's for like an 8-year-old." But it just seems to really I don't know. I wonder what's going on. I don't I don't think it's that bad. I mean, they kind of look like tech dudes or tech dudes. Like little thumbs. I don't remember what you're talking What are you talking about? Tech dudes. Oh, tech. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that was a great toy line back in the day. Tech was the skateboards, not the Yeah, but those they look both look like thumbs. The wittle. Yeah, cuz you cuz you played with the idea was that you played with the skate. Look at you with that toy reference. I'm digging this, Phil. I had a childhood at one point I experienced this. No, that's a good one. No. Yeah, I don't know. Like I think there's a some sort of shift going on in the appeal of different themes and IP that is making me super curious. Anyway, thank you everyone and we will see you next week. [Music]