New Marvel game announced by creators of ‘Pokémon Go’

A new Marvel mobile game has been announced at Disney’s D23 Expo, made by the developers of Pokémon Go.

The new game will be called MARVEL World of Heroes, and it will be made by Niantic, Inc., the developer of Pokémon Go. Niantic is famous for its augmented reality, as they used in Pokémon Go, bringing the world of Pokémon into the real world. You can watch the trailer for the game below, which announced the game and its 2023 release date.

The short trailer features people on their phones in a park when a portal pops up above them. The people then use the powers of various Marvel characters including Dr. Strange, Cyclops, and Thor, with the caption, “We are all heroes.” It’s unclear what the gameplay of MARVEL World of Heroes will look like, but this is not the only time Niantic has made a game like Pokémon Go. They also made one of these games for some other universes, like Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, Transformers: Heavy Metal, and Pikmin Bloom.

Therefore it is likely that MARVEL World of Heroes will share the gameplay styles of the previous Niantic developed games, as they all have had fairly similar looks, with an overworld map bringing Pokémon, Transformers, and creatures from the Harry Potter universe into your world. There will also be an option for you to turn on your camera, so the characters and creatures could actually invade your world for you to defeat or capture.

Unfortunately, Niantic has not had the greatest track record with these games, even though Pokémon Go was undoubtedly a success. After Harry Potter: Wizards Unite launched in 2019, it lasted only a few years, shutting down this year at the beginning of 2022. It’s also unclear how exactly Niantic will transform its formula to fit the Marvel Universe, and if we will be attacking other characters with powers taken from heroes, whether we play the heroes themselves, or something else entirely. 

MARVEL World of Heroes was not the only Marvel game announced at the D23 Expo’s Disney and Marvel Games Showcase, which was hosted by Kinda Funny’s Blessing Adeoye Jr. They also announced a game by Skydance New Media which follows Black Panther and Captain America fighting against Hydra in World War II, along with a release date for Marvel’s Midnight Suns and Marvel Snap. 

This is far from the first Marvel mobile game either, with Marvel Strike Force, Marvel Future Revolution, Marvel Realm of Champions, Marvel Future Fight, and Marvel Puzzle Quest all being released in the last ten years. Marvel Snap and Niantic’s MARVEL World of Heroes will be joining their ranks soon.

MARVEL World of Heroes will be coming to mobile phones in 2023.