Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy was quite the unexpected hit for many in 2021. Featuring a single player adventure that focused heavily on narrative features and the story of Peter Quill becoming the leader of the popular space-faring group, the game received critical praise following its release. It even went on to win the best narrative award at the 2021 Game Awards. For many, the game was a dark horse of 2021, as few expected it to be as well-received as it was.

Following the controversial and criticized launch of Marvel's Avengers, few were expecting Eidos Montreal and Square Enix to be able to completely flip the script and in the following year release a truly successful title. In the months following its release, Guardians of the Galaxy was seen as a success, with it holding an "overwhelmingly positive" amount of reviews currently on Steam. However, it seemed that even Square Enix was not expecting the game to do as well as it did, and that despite its critical praise, Guardians of the Galaxy may have failed elsewhere.

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According to a recent quarterly earnings report, Guardians of the Galaxy publisher Square Enix claims that the game underperformed in its launch sales. The company wrote in its report that "the game’s sales on launch undershot our initial expectations." However, sales have grown since November 2021, likely caused by people picking up on all the critical praise Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy was getting.

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Square Enix are expecting this growth in sales to continue as 2022 marches on. It's unsurprising that Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy is selling well even now, as Marvel games have proven that they have a certain longevity when it comes to new players joining the game. Where single player titles are concerned especially, games like Marvel's Spider-Man is still seeing a strong community online with players still enjoying the 2018 game. After the critically panned Marvel's Avengers, Square Enix lost a significant amount of money, so it is likely hoping for strong Guardians of the Galaxy sales to make up for that.

With skepticism around the launch of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, it is impressive to see how far the game has come. Whether its sales will continue to boost Square Enix's income is unknown, though it already has many fans eyeing upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy projects, and even looking into the past of the famous comic book team.

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.

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