Marvel Entertainment于4月28日在旧金山某大会上同游戏开发伙伴Gazillion声称，新大型多人在线超级英雄游戏将采用免费模式。考虑到Marvel所拥有知识产权的价值，《Marvel Universe Online》使用免费运营模式对公司来说是个大胆的战略举措，因为这意味着将失去订阅费用和扩展包这两项收益。

某些Marvel最忠实的用户已经购买许多漫画书，其平均价格为每月3.99美元，这个数字与多数月订阅游戏相当。因而，如果Marvel采用暴雪《魔兽世界》的付费策略，其基础用户数目无疑也将甚为可观。游戏邦获悉，《魔兽世界》这种做法每年为其带来数十亿美元的营收。

Marvel Universe Online

Marvel此前确实审视过付费模式，但是公司认为这不适合。2008年，公司与《City of Heroes》开发商Cryptic Studios合作，首次尝试制作MMO游戏。次年，便与Gazillion签订长达10年的合作协议。

据Gazillion Entertainment总裁兼首席运营官Dave Brevick所述，Marvel的MMO游戏将采用类似于《Farmville》等游戏的运营模式，通过允许玩家购买在游戏中能够体现价值的虚拟商品来产生利润。但是，《Marvel Universe Online》与《Farmville》或《Mafia Wars》定有不同之处。Brevick曾参与过《暗黑破坏神》前两部作品的开发，在游戏业有着20多年的经验。在大会上，他表示玩家在这款免费游戏中也会有高质量、高产品价值的体验。

就游戏玩法而言，用户将看到Marvel把最受欢迎的故事重新制作融入广阔精细的环境中。与DC Comics的《DCU Online》让玩家自行创建角色不同，用户可以从游戏提供的许多经典超级英雄（游戏邦注：包括蜘蛛侠、美国队长和钢铁侠等）中选择。依公司所言，游戏发布之初只能用于PC，随后将发放其他平台版本。Marvel拒绝透露是否将在今年E3上展演该MMO游戏。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，转载请注明来源：游戏邦）

Marvel Entertainment’s new MMO game will be free to play

Marvel Entertainment’s new Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) super-hero game will be free to play, the company announced yesterday at a San Francisco event with game development partner Gazillion. Considering the value of Marvel’s intellectual properties, a free-to-play business model for Marvel Universe Online is a bold strategy for the company because it means missing out on revenue from subscription fees and expansion packs.

Some of Marvel’s most loyal customers already purchase several comic books that average $3.99 each per month — an amount comparable with most monthly game subscriptions. So, it’s not unreasonable to believe Marvel would have a built-in user base if it followed Blizzard’s pay-to-play strategy for World of Warcraft, which generates billions of dollars each year.

Marvel has definitely examined pay-to-play options in the past, however, and determined it was not a good fit. The company terminated its first attempt at creating an MMO with City of Heroes developers Cryptic Studios in 2008 and signed a 10-year deal with Gazillion the following year.

Similar to the business models of games like Farmville, Marvel’s MMO will generate some of its revenue by allowing players to purchase virtual goods that have value within the context of the game, according to Gazillion Entertainment President and Chief Operating Officer Dave Brevick. But, don’t expect Marvel Universe Online to bear any resemblance to Farmville or Mafia Wars.  Brevick’s industry credits include Diablo and Diablo II as well as 20 years of work in the gaming industry. At the event, he said the game will be a legitimately free experience that will also be “…AAA (triple A), high-quality, high-production value experience that is very accessible.”

As for the game play, users will navigate through a vast, detailed environment recreated from Marvel’s most popular stories. And unlike DC Comics’ DCU Online game, for which players create a custom character, users will choose to play as one of several classic super-heroes, like Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man and more.

Initially, the game will only be available for PCs, with support for other platforms to be announced at a later date, the company said. Marvel declined to comment on whether it would debut clips of the MMO at this year’s E3. (Source: Games Beat)