Marvel’s renewed focus on the video games industry has led to a mixture of results. While the likes of Insomniac Games’ Spider-Man titles proved to be both critical and commercial hits, Marvel’s Avengers on the other hand was somewhat of an infamous failure. Sitting somewhere in the middle is Guardians of the Galaxy. Initially released in 2021, the game is set to get a second chance at life thanks to its upcoming Switch 2 ‘Encore Edition.’

Making the announcement during the most recent Nintendo Direct, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy: Encore Edition was officially confirmed to be coming to the Switch 2 later this year on the 5th of November.

For the uninitiated, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is a single-player action-adventure title in which you play as Star-Lord, the leader of the Guardians. Throughout the game, players will make plenty of choices both narratively and gameplay-wise, helping to make the group feel like a proper team.

While the game was praised upon its initial release back in 2021 (even winning a bunch of awards), sales for the title proved to be lower than publisher Square Enix was hoping.

Thus, the Encore Edition presents a second chance for Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Available exclusively for the Switch 2, this new edition appears to be pretty much the same experience, albeit with “an all-new set of glam rock outfits for the Guardians.”

While it remains a visually pleasing experience (for the most part), certain compromises have been made in order to get it running on Switch 2. According to the devs, the Encore Edition will come with two visual modes: Quality (1440p | 30fps) and Performance (1080p | 40FPS). When playing in handheld, only one option will be available (30FPS at an undisclosed resolution).

Regardless, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy was a great game which unfortunately underperformed thanks in part to the previous year’s live-service Avengers – putting a bit of a stink on IP at the time. Half a decade later however, it will be interesting to see how the game performs.

KitGuru says: What did you think of the game back in 2021? Was it unfairly lumped in with The Avengers at the time? Who’s your favourite member of the Guardians? Let us know down below.

After moving away somewhat from the industry and shutting down its internal studios, Disney has spent the past few years reviving its video game efforts – partnering with a plethora of publishers for a wide variety of projects. So far, this seems to be working well for them, with Disney reporting that at least 9 different games have made over $1 Billion so far.

As reported by the publication MickeyBlog, the past 4 years has seen Disney’s gaming efforts pay off, with the media giant said to have “driven an estimated $3.5 billion in annual consumer spending.”

While a portion of this growth can be attributed to Disney’s investment in Epic Games, its suite of licensed titles are also to thank, with the EVP of Global Games and Digital Entertainment at Disney – Sean Shoptaw – claiming that 9 games in total so far “have grossed over $1 billion at retail.”

Though no specific games were mentioned, since the launch of Marvel’s Spider-Man back in 2018 we’ve gotten tons of major releases and surprise hits, including but not limited to: Miles Morales and Spider-Man 2; Midnight Suns; Guardians of the Galaxy; Avengers; Ultimate Alliance 3 and of course Marvel Rivals (not even accounting for LucasFilm's various adaptations).

While some of these failed to meet expectations, the company has also seen a great deal of success on the mobile side, with the likes of Marvel Snap and Strike Force also bringing in recurring revenue.

Marvel Tokon of course just released earlier this month, and Insomniac’s Wolverine is slated for launch in under a month’s time.

With a rumoured Venom game also on the way; Spider-Man 3 all-but confirmed and the likes of Blade (hopefully) still in development, Marvel seems to have fully found its footing in the video games space.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of Marvel’s revived gaming efforts? Is Spider-Man helping to keep the brand afloat? Let us know your thoughts down below.

As part of Marvel’s renewed interest in the video games market, the superhero giant partnered with a number of different publishers and studios to develop a range of games based on their iconic legacy of characters. While this has led to major successes (with Insomniac’s Spider-Man games) and infamous failures (such as the live-service Avengers title), the initiative also spawned a number of more forgotten projects. Fortunately, one of their most underrated releases – Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy – could be getting another chance at life, with the ill-fated 2021 title seemingly set to land on the Nintendo Switch 2 soon.

As discovered by reddit user ‘venom_daemon’ the Taiwanese Game Rating Board recently published a listing for Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy for the Nintendo Switch 2, all-but-confirming that the title is scheduled to arrive on Nintendo’s latest system sooner rather than later.

No additional details were revealed, and so for now it is unknown when the game is planned to release. Even so, this latest listing is interesting not only due to the fact that Guardians of the Galaxy was a critical hit yet a commercial miss, but also due to the fact that the title is technically already playable on the OG Switch (albeit only through a cloud streaming version).

Upon its release, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy was somewhat unfairly maligned, with the sour taste of the previous year’s live-service Avengers tainting the overall perception of the title – despite the fact that it was a wholly different narrative-driven AAA single player experience.

With half a decade of hindsight behind us however, it will be interesting to see what players think of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy upon its eventual arrival onto the Switch 2.

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KitGuru says: What did you think of the Guardians of the Galaxy game? Was it unfairly lumped into the Avengers hate? Will it receive a critical re-evaluation upon its Switch 2 arrival? Let us know down below.