Crystal Dynamics' Marvel's Avengers had a rough launch, and to this day issues are still cropping up. For example, the live-service title recently announced paid XP boosters, going back on previous assurances that microtransactions would only apply to cosmetics. It hasn't been all bad though, with content expansions like War for Wakanda and Marvel's Avengers releasing on Xbox Game Pass giving it a boost in fans' eyes. The latter could also set up a great pattern for Eidos Montreal's Guardians of the Galaxy to follow.

The popularity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe led to a renaissance in Marvel Comics video games developed by various studios. Kabam has mobile games like Marvel Realm of Champions, Insomniac has its Marvel's Spider-Man universe (soon to expand with Wolverine), and now publisher Square Enix is set to make itself a more substantial player by adding Guardians of the Galaxy to its line-up on October 26. With Avengers already appearing on Game Pass, it would make sense for Guardians to follow suit, giving Square its own unique niche for Marvel video games.

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Square Enix's Ties in The Industry

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Generally speaking, Square Enix is platform agnostic. Its many properties have appeared on just about every console imaginable to varying degrees. However, many would probably associate the brand with Sony's PlayStation. Though Final Fantasy began its life on the NES in 1987, many of its best-known entries like Final Fantasy 7 were exclusive to PlayStation, and to this day games like Final Fantasy 14 still only appear on PC and PlayStation.

The same can be said for something like Kingdom Hearts. While Sora is about to join Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2 were both exclusive to the PlayStation 2 at release. That series is harder to judge though, with multiple entries like Chain of Memories and Dream Drop Distance originally coming to Nintendo handhelds.

In fact, Nintendo is probably Square's second biggest console partner today. Discounting the long history of early Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest games appearing on Nintendo hardware, there are still major Nintendo-exclusive franchises coming out of Square Enix. Bravely Default is perhaps the biggest name of note, though the upcoming HD-2D game Triangle Strategy is also set to be a Switch exclusive.

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Square Enix's Marvel Properties Can Thrive Together on Game Pass

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It's much harder to think of franchises Square Enix has partnered exclusively with Xbox to release. Part of this likely has to do with Square being a Japanese company, thus having less interest in Microsoft compared to Sony and Nintendo (which have more of a presence in Japan). This is one major reason why Eidos Montreal's Guardians of the Galaxy should come to Game Pass alongside Avengers. Keeping its Marvel properties together on the subscription service may offer Square Enix more of an edge judging by Avengers' uptick in users.

If the Square-published Marvel games become a bastion on Game Pass, it would also serve as something of a competitor to Sony's first-party titles out of Insomniac Games. Guardians of the Galaxy is also releasing on PlayStation systems and Switch as a cloud port, but it's hard to deny the appeal of getting it as a potential package deal with the Game Pass subscription. Avengers arguably has more to gain with Game Pass because its active userbase is an inherent boon for multiplayer-centric titles. Still, those who enjoy Avengers could become interested in trying Square's other published Marvel game, so it would be good to see them together.

Given Marvel's Avengers appearing on Game Pass suggests Square Enix has some kind of deal with Microsoft, it's easy to imagine Guardians of the Galaxy joining it. Some could say Guardians' single-player focus would make Square more hesitant, but titles like NieR: Automata, Dragon Quest 11, and Octopath Traveler are already on Game Pass to suggest otherwise. In the end, it just seems like good business to expand Eidos Montreal's potential audience as much as possible if Square wants its Marvel games to succeed.

Guardians of the Galaxy launches October 26 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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