10 Huge Video Game Franchises That Are Doomed To Fail
3. Marvel's Avengers
The Marvel brand as a whole is so dominant across pop-culture right now that it truly does feel too big to fail, but impressively, Square Enix took quite the embarrassing stumble out of the gate with last year's Avengers game from Crystal Dynamics.
While on the surface it simply wasn't possible for a AAA live-service Avengers game to flop, underwhelming pre-release footage combined with lukewarm reviews ensured that sales quickly fell off a cliff after a strong start.
The underwhelming launch caused Square Enix to lose an estimated $63 million during the release window, and just recently company president Yosuke Matsuda confirmed the game to be a commercial disappointment.
Considering that Marvel's Avengers was supposed to be a Destiny-level commercial titan that would keep Square Enix well-minted for years with a sequel presumably releasing a few years on, it's looking like those plans are basically up in smoke.
Though Square Enix's recently released Guardians of the Galaxy game set in the same universe received much warmer reviews, its low concurrent player count on Steam during release week suggests sales will be relatively low, likely affected by Marvel's Avengers tainting the overall brand.
While it's likely that Square Enix will roll the dice on another Avengers game eventually, it seems like the cash cow has been mortally wounded.