World Dating: апреля 2011

Thursday evening, Marvel made some key announcements about its upcoming massively multiplayer online (MMO) game, called Marvel Universe, including revealing the identity of the game's lead writer.

The game was created with hardcore comic nerds, hardcore comic geeks and even the casual enthusiast in mind. Gamers will get to play superheroes — including Thor, Captain America and Spider-Man — in some of the most epic events in Marvel history, classical canon and modern adventures alike.

And best of all, it will be completely free to play from beginning to end.

The writer is none other than the singular Brian Michael Bendis (pictured above), whose notable works include New Avengers, Utimate Spider-Man, House of M and Daredevil, to name but a few.

At a press event in San Francisco Thursday night, Bendis touched on the heart of why people are going to love Marvel Universe.

"The reason I was so desperate to be part of this is because I believe the Marvel universe is … a lifestyle. So many people are so passionate about these characters; now, you can express that passion in a completely different way," Bendis said.

He equates the MMO to what the legendary Stan Lee did in the 1960s with the formation of the Marvel fan club, the Merry Marvel Marching Society. "It made the comic books about you," said Bendis. In fact, the game's Twitter account, @MMMSociety, is a tribute to this concept. (The account is currently private, but follow it for updates as they become available.)

Game developer David Brevik co-founded Blizzard North (gaming company Blizzard's San Francisco division) and is currently the COO of online gaming startup Gazillion. Gazillion and Marvel have been working on the game "for over a year," he said, and it has been "designed as a free game from the ground up."

He explained why the companies won't charge players a cent to play Marvel Universe: "I'm a hardcore gamer, and I hate to be nickel-and-dimed. … We want this to be a legitimate and compelling experience."

That's not to say Marvel Universe won't be profitable. "We do think we can make money on this," said game partner Secret Identity Studio's Jeffrey Lind. "There are things people can buy in the game while still maintaining a totally free-play experience."

TQ Jefferson is Marvel's VP of Games Development. At the same event, he told press that the game would also "offer a range of Marvel's strong female characters. … I can assure you, this will not be a boys' club."

Marvel is also working on a separate MMO geared toward younger audiences; mocks we've seen look like superheroes-meet-Bratz. But Jefferson says Marvel Universe is a different and entirely grown-up project. "This is going to be the MMO that core gamers want to play."

We're still waiting to find out if it will be browser- or client-based, but already, we can't wait to get our nerdy little fingers on the game. And for the low, low price of free, we can certainly afford to give it a shot.

More About: comics, games, Marvel, MMO

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