While Marvel has always had a prominent place in pop-culture, the brand has grown exponentially over the last two decades or so, beginning with the rise of comic book movies like Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy and the X-Men movies, and culminating in the juggernaut that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Though characters like Spider-Man and Wolverine have always been household names, now even the most casual moviegoers will know heroes like Rocket Raccoon and Adam Warlock. But despite its ever-growing popularity, sometimes the Marvel brand alone isn't enough to move units, and that was exactly the case with Marvel's Midnight Suns.
Released right at the end of last year, Marvel's Midnight Suns is a tactical RPG developed Firaxis that was adored by critics, but failed to gain the attention of Marvel's mass audience. And with Civilization 7 right around the corner, Firaxis could be dangerously close to repeating its mistake again, putting Civilization 7 in the same boat as Marvel's Midnight Suns.
Civilization 7 Needs to Avoid One Big Midnight Suns Mistake
Marvel's Midnight Suns, by the vast majority of accounts of those who actually played it, was a great Marvel video game. Standout cutscenes, memorable character dynamics, witty dialogue, and a vast selection of playable characters are just a few of the reasons behind Midnight Suns' great critical success, and that's not even touching on the game's actual gameplay. Taking the lessons learned from its XCOM series, Firaxis delivered bombastic action set pieces with a streamlined card-based tactics system, giving players a great deal of strategy over their actions.
But while Marvel's Midnight Suns was an immediate hit with critics, earning 8s and 9s across the board, it failed to capture the attention of casual audiences. While strategy game lovers were there on day one, Midnight Suns needed to reach a much wider audience, and it just failed to do so. The unfortunate truth is that strategy games, especially turn-based ones, are just not the vast majority of gamers' cup of tea. Rather than spend a turn picking which target Iron Man will launch a missile at and waiting for it to happen, many players would rather just take the action into their own hands and deliver the shot themselves.
According to Take-Two Interactive's CEO Strauss Zelnick, Marvel's Midnight Suns was considered a commercial disappointment, and though there are multiple factors behind this, such as the game's unfavorable launch window, the biggest contributing factor was the game's marketing. In its initial gameplay reveal, Marvel's Midnight Suns looked slow and awkward, the exact opposite of what many fans have come to expect from a superhero video game. If Midnight Suns' initial gameplay reveal was a bit more energetic and flashy, then it could have convinced more casual audiences to give it a try.
It could be very easy for Firaxis' next game, Civilization 7, to fall into a similar trap. The grand strategy genre is still a fairly niche one, at least in the console market, and while Civilization fans will pounce straight on Civilization 7 on release day like they always do for every entry, it's much harder to get casual audiences to take that plunge into the unknown. But Civilization 7 is the perfect opportunity for Firaxis to learn from its mistakes with Midnight Suns, really focusing the marketing around more casual audiences. Rather than focus on the game's countless different diplomacy screens and menus, Civilization 7's trailers should hone in on the action, showing plenty of moving units and battles. Civilization 7's marketing shouldn't be misleading, but it should be framed in a way that keeps newcomers engaged, hopefully avoiding another Marvel's Midnight Suns situation.
Marvel's Midnight Suns is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.