Marvel Debuts Q3 Results, New Game Licenses

Comic book and "global character based-entertainment and licensing" company Marvel, announced financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2006, as well as confirmed the development of several previously unannounced video games based on its existing properties. For the third quarter, Marvel reported significantly reduced profit of $13.2 million, compared to $23.4 million reported during the same period a year ago. In particular, the company noted that revenue dropped off 15 percent from the prior year to $28.3 million, citing “lower contributions from domestic licensing and Marvel’s Spider-Man merchandising joint venture with Sony” as the chief cause of the decline. According to Marvel representatives, the Spider-Man joint venture resulted in sales of just $0.8 million during the third quarter, which were primarily related to licensing overages associated with sales of Activision's Spider-Man 2 game. While Marvel-licensed game releases were relatively light in 2006, with only a pair of multiplatform titles from Activision in X-Men: The Official Game and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Marvel has already lined up several video game releases for 2007. Take Two will release Ghost Rider, based on the upcoming feature film, for multiple platforms in the first quarter, and follow this up with Fantastic Four II in the following quarter. The first quarter will also see the release of Konami's Marvel Vs. Card Game. Other game development projects announced by Marvel include Spider-Man 3 in the second quarter, and Spider-Man Trilogy in the fourth quarter, both from Activision, as well as a sequel to Electronic Arts and Nihilistic's fighting game Marvel Nemesis.