Marvel's Midnight Suns received an updated release date at Friday's Disney and Marvel Games Showcase: it will now release on December 2, 2022. While some fans may have been disappointed by the delay, the decision to move Marvel's Midnight Suns from a busy and loaded October to December will likely prove to be very beneficial to the game's success.
Originally announced in 2021, Marvel's Midnight Suns is a card-based RPG and strategy game by Firaxis that will likely appeal to fans of XCOM. Midnight Suns previously had a release date of October 7, but was delayed back in August. Until today, fans only knew that it would be coming out before the end of March 2023. Moving out of October not only allowed the team at Firaxis the opportunity to provide additional polish to the game, but the move helps Midnight Suns avoid a hectic October schedule full of blockbuster AAA games.
October Has Huge Games
Dozens of games are scheduled to release in October, and many of them are AAA titles. If Marvel's Midnight Suns had released in October, it would have competed with the likes of Overwatch 2, Bayonetta 3, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. October is also the heart of sports game season, and both NHL 23 and PGA Tour 2K23 are slated to launch that month. On top of all that, another comics-themes game is definitely hitting store shelves, as WB Montreal's Gotham Knights has gone gold and is launching on October 21. Those are just a few of the games Marvel's Midnight Suns would have been competing with had it arrived in October.
Marvel's Midnight Suns would likely have performed perfectly well on the sales charts if it had released in October, but a card-based RPG doesn't have the wide appeal of a franchise like Call of Duty. With consumers facing so many choices in October for where to spend their gaming budget, some would inevitably choose to get other games when they otherwise might have purchased Midnight Suns. Even though Call of Duty: Vanguard underperformed in 2021, every Call of Duty game still is at or near the top of the game sales charts on a yearly basis. Taking the opportunity to avoid competing with that game or any of the other AAA games headed to stores in October might help Midnight Suns succeed.
A December Release Makes Sense
Unlike the month of October, December 2022 currently only has a handful of major game releases for Midnight Suns to contend with. December will bring players experiences such as Hello Neighbor 2, Dragon Quest Treasures, High on Life, and Blacktail. Perhaps the most notable December release is The Callisto Protocol, one of Fall 2022's most anticipated games. Despite getting a lot of attention, The Callisto Protocol is a survival horror game that won't necessarily have appeal as broad as Call of Duty or Gotham Knights. December allows Midnight Suns the space to stand on its own and have a better chance to succeed.
From a sales standpoint, December makes more sense than October. December isn't as loaded with AAA titles and with it being so close to the holidays, Midnight Suns will get purchased as a gift on top of being purchased at launch by excited players. A later release date might also open the door for fans to invest more time into the game without thinking about which game comes out the next week. With many people getting time off of work or school around the holidays, there will be ample opportunity for Marvel's Midnight Suns to establish a loyal fan base. It might not be one of the best Christmas games, but launching near the holidays should help the heroes of Midnight Suns in a big way.
It could all backfire terribly, but the delay just might benefit Marvel's Midnight Suns in more ways than giving it more polish. Less competition and more opportunity to develop a solid player base could make the delay the best thing that ever happened to the game.
Midnight Suns launches December 2 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
