One of the most surprising announcements to come out of E3 2021 was Guardians of the Galaxy, a single-player, story-based action-adventure game starring everyone's favorite group of galactic heroes. In development at Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided developer Eidos Montreal, Guardians of the Galaxy will be the second Marvel Comics game published by Square Enix. With the launch of Marvel's Avengers in August of last year, and given the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the idea of a shared universe of Marvel games is very exciting.

Following the official reveal of Guardians of the Galaxy, Crystal Dynamics released a free nameplate in Marvel's Avengers that players could pick up for a limited time from the store. An in-game advertisement for the upcoming game was also included. Coming from the same publisher, it is certainly possible that Square Enix and Marvel Games have plans for the two games to cross over at some point in the future, either through connecting universes, in-game events and items like the nameplate or, at minimum, easter eggs for hardcore players to enjoy. As such, if Marvel's Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy have crossovers, they could take many forms.

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Square Enix's Marvel Game Universe

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The creation and success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe changed the film industry forever, creating a whole new type of series that many studios have attempted to replicate. The copycat attempts include the DCEU, the MonsterVerse, the Conjuring Universe, the Dark Universe, and the Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters. Naturally, players imagination's went wild with the idea of a connected games universe, particularly after the announcement of Marvel's Avengers. The ultimate dream is to get a video game version of the MCU, and given the fact that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and Gotham Knights aren't connected, this is the first time that it's a real possibility. Video games take significantly longer to create than films, so there's very little room for error. Still, if Square Enix and Marvel Games were able to pull it off, the payoff would be huge.

Expanding on the idea of a connected Marvel Games universe between Marvel's Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy, a much more realistic and very exciting potential outcome would be a future expansion that combines the two. Marvel's Avengers will be getting its first annual expansion next month in the form of Black Panther: War for Wakanda, and the hope for many fans is that the expansion will find enough success to continue support with full-scale expansions each year like Destiny 2. The Guardians of the Galaxy would be a very enticing addition to Marvel's Avengers for many players, and the franchise has enough characters and story to fit its own annual expansion. To achieve this, all that Square Enix would need to do is make the Marvel's Avengers versions of the characters the same.

After the announcement of Guardians of the Galaxy, Crystal Dynamics released a unique and limited-time nameplate in Marvel's Avengers featuring the iconic cosmic heroes, completely free of charge. On top of that, the Marvel's Avengers news tab featured a new banner with details about the upcoming game as an extra bit of promotion. While the notion of a connected game universe or an expansion in Marvel's Avengers are still only fan dreams, this is the kind of real crossover that has already happened and can be expected to continue consistently in both games. Cross-promotion, potential discounts, and bonus in-game items for Marvel fans are just three possibilities in a long list of business strategies Square Enix could employ to boost sales and make sure both games succeed.

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Easter Eggs In Guardians of the Galaxy And Future Crossover Potential

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Finally, it's almost guaranteed that Guardians of the Galaxy will have plenty of Easter Eggs and nots to Marvel Comics, with at least one of them likely to reference the Marvel's Avengers game. Developers have included easter eggs for other games, films, or moments in pop culture for decades, sometimes to pay homage to what inspired their work, and sometimes just for fun. Marvel's Avengers alone is full of Easter Eggs that reference everything from the existence of Captain Marvel and Jessica Jones to the iconic scene in Avengers: Age of Ultron where Earth's Mightiest Heroes all attempt to lift Mjolnir. The end of Marvel's Avengers already teased some cosmic villains for the future, so it's safe to say both War for Wakanda and Guardians of the Galaxy will be full of references.

Whether it's a full-blown video game universe that spans multiple games and characters like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or just a few fun Easter Eggs and in-game items here and there, Square Enix is likely going to take full advantage of its position and make sure Marvel's Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy crossover as many times as they possibly can. If the games are successful enough, some may even want the crossover to extend it extend to the point that the Square Enix games connect with Marvel's Spider-ManThis is highly unlikely, however, and fans should keep their expectations in check. Still, whether they are big or small, some more connections between Marvel's Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy are likely to be seen.

Guardians of the Galaxy will release on October 26, 2021, for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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