Marvel today announced that Gazillion Entertainment’s Marvel Heroes video game will be shutting down. Marvel Heroes is a free-to-play massively-multiplayer online game in the same vein as Diablo or Path of Exile. The game launched on the PC in 2013 and was subsequently ported to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One earlier this year as Marvel Heroes Omega. All versions of the game, PC and console, are affected by today’s announcement:

“We regret to inform our Marvel Heroes fans that we have ended our relationship with Gazillion Entertainment, and that the Marvel Heroes games will be shut down. We would like to sincerely thank the players who joined the Marvel Heroes community, and will provide any further updates as they become available.”

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When the game originally launched it did so with a cast of 21 playable characters from Marvel’s expansive history, but the roster grew as time went on, often incorporating new characters, NPC allies and items coinciding with the release of Marvel movies and TV shows. The game also featured locations familiar to Marvel Comics fans, like the Raft, Latveria and Asgard.

The game’s script was written by Brian Michael Bendis and revolved around Doctor Doom obtaining the Cosmic Cube and killing off the Watcher. Meanwhile, a breakout at the Raft prison unleashes hordes of supervillains into an unsuspecting world. Hydra, A.I.M., Mr. Sinister and several other villainous forces from Marvel canon also came to blows with the world’s heroes. The game’s climax sees Doctor Doom reveal himself to be the puppet master controlling these various factions. Later addon content touched on the Skrull invasion and teased the appearance of Thanos.

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Fans have long feared that Marvel Heroes was on Disney’s chopping block. Over the past few weeks, Gazillion missed four planned updates and the annual Halloween event was a no-show. Thor: Ragnarok tie-in content that was slated for release at the end of October went unreleased, too.

For many, the loss of Marvel Heroes is a serious blow. The game was one of the few places left, aside from the comics, where characters from all corners of the Marvel universe could interact, unburdened by the confusing labyrinth of movie licensing deals that keep the likes of mutants and Avengers from appearing in the same film, or the Incredible Hulk from getting his own solo outing.

(via Kotaku)