"This is our one and only," Tim Rothwell, worldwide president of the Consumer Media Group at Marvel Enterprises, told Reuters, referring to the MMO pact.
The MMO deal is Microsoft's first for a console, although the company has previously had MMO deals for the PC. MMO games allow players in various locations to compete. Such game play is popular with PC gamers in Asia. Some analysts estimate that as many as 2 million people are MMO game players. Online capabilities will be central to new game consoles and Microsoft sees MMO games as a large opportunity.
"Online gaming is reaching a point of acceptance. We will use as many of the Marvel characters as we can" in the MMO game, said Peter Moore, corporate vice president of worldwide marketing and publishing for Microsoft's Xbox.