Marvel Heroes Designer Talks About Finished Heroes, Bankruptcy, Disney

Jason Winter
By Jason Winter, News Editor Posted:
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Simply Marvel-ous: Marvel Heroes Review 5

We'll probably be seeing lots about Gazillion's and Marvel Heroes' abrupt shutdown over the next few weeks, much of it coming from former employees who are now free to talk about the experience with whomever they like.

One such employee, Systems Designer Anthony Gallegos, got on the Kinda Funny Games show and discussed matters with host Greg Miller. His interview starts at about the five-minute mark of the video below and Gallegos reveals that:

  • He thinks the reason Gazillion was able to shut down without paying PTO to its employees was because it entered into bankruptcy, in which the company has to pay creditors first.
  • A week and a half before the closure, employees were told they were being furloughed, a kind of limbo where employees are told not to work, and don't get paid, but aren't technically fired, while the company worked out financial matters.
  • The contract with Disney to produce the game expired in October and the two companies couldn't re-negotiate a new deal. That was also when Gazillion staff was ordered to cease communication with fans.
  • A new "Gladiator Thor" character, based on Thor from the recent movie, was going to be the first new version of an existing character. He used weapons and had a power to call Hulk in to help him, called "Friend From Work." He was ready to go, and all Gazillion had to do was "push the button." Spider-Woman was ready, too.
  • "Two people" were working on a new game, while also continuing to work on Marvel Heroes.

    Gallegos stresses that "this isn't a Disney's the bad guy thing" and that "There were obligations that Gazillion had in this contract and something must have not worked out, and so Marvel pulled the plug. It's just business. I'm sure there was something like, 'If you don't do this, then we just pull the plug.'"

    That brings us back to the question of whether the accusations against Gazillion CEO David Dohrmann carried some weight. If so, one of the major sticking points Disney -- which paints itself as a family-friendly company -- had to renew the contract could have been that Dohrmann be removed. In that scenario, if he wouldn't budge, then ... well, maybe we saw what happened.

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    In this article: Marvel Heroes, Gazillion.

    About the Author

    Jason Winter
    Jason Winter, News Editor

    Jason Winter is a veteran gaming journalist, he brings a wide range of experience to MMOBomb, including two years with Beckett Media where he served as the editor of the leading gaming magazine Massive Online Gamer. He has also written professionally for several gaming websites.

    More Stories by Jason Winter

    Discussion (2)

    happymhoclosed 7 years ago
    too much rng f*cked the game.GEt this

    -run an instance a gazillion times
    -pray for good rng for item to drop

    IF it drops

    -pray for good rng for item to have good stats

    good riddance,Lets hope for a world of warcraft kind of game with marvel heroes
    Manipualtor 7 years ago
    Well god hath spoken, even tho I kinda hope a marvel-fan-gamer that 'rich enough' are able to provide a financial support for this amazing game, guess an employee should TED about it

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