In an earnings briefing, Square Enix revealed that Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy performed below sales expectations, despite critical acclaim.
Despite its critical acclaim and positive word-of-mouth, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy failed to meet Square Enix's sales expectations at launch. After years of uncorrobrated rumors, Square Enix and Deus Ex developer Eidos-Montréal announced their Guardians of the Galaxy game during E3 2021. The GOTG title had its skeptics following Marvel's Avengers' myriad shortcomings, yet many still viewed the new Eidos-Montréal project as a potentially promising experience.
Suffice it to say, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy's critical success proved its naysayers wrong. The storytelling and character work especially received high praise from reviewers and players alike; meanwhile, some of the gameplay design choices felt hit or miss by most standards. Still, the GOTG game managed to become quite the sleeper hit, finding itself among many a Game of the Year list and even taking home a few trophies during awards season. But that might not be enough for the lofty expectations of its publisher.
During an earnings briefing, Square Enix President Yosuke Matsuda noted (via VGC) that sales of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy "undershot [the publisher's] initial expectations." Such a disappointment came despite strong review scores, Matsuda mentioned. Square Enix apparently boasts high hopes that the Eidos-Montréal-developed GOTG project will enjoy a long tail of success, though. In the presentation, Matsuda said sales initiatives that began in November 2021 and continued into 2022 have worked wonders for "sales growth;" thus, the company intends to carry on its efforts of expanding GOTG's market performance to make up for the "slow start."
Square Enix has a long history of overextending its sales projections for AAA ventures. Despite moving nearly 3.5 million units in four weeks, the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot was still considered a disappointment. Hitman: Absolution shifted 3.6 million copies after roughly three months on the market, a boon for any stealth title, yet fell below Square Enix's lofty goals. And, most recently, Marvel's Avengers failed to hit the mark commercially, though that particular letdown arguably took shape because of the game's poorly implemented live-service model.
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy launched for PC, last-gen, and new-gen consoles in October 2021 to widespread acclaim. Star-Lord served as the main character, leading a group of misfits that included fan-favorite heroes such as Drax, Gamora, Groot, and Rocket Raccoon as they journeyed through space. At present, Square Enix's potential interest in pursuing a sequel remains a mystery that may not soon receive a concrete answer.
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy is out now on Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Square Enix (via VGC)
