Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Launch Sales Fell Below Expectations, Square Enix Says

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy was fighting an uphill battle before it even came out, and there was no shortage of skepticism surrounding the game in the lead-up to its launch. Of course, with its single player, narrative-driven focus, Eidos Montreal’s action-adventure game ended up surprising a large number of people- but though it certainly received plenty of praise from critics and audiences alike, it seems that wasn’t reflected in its initial sales.

In its latest quarterly earnings report, publisher Square Enix revealed that Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy’s launch sales fell below the company’s expectations. That said, the game ended up picking up steam not long afterward, enjoying a growth in sales, which is something that Square Enix is expecting will continue.

“Despite strong reviews, the game’s sales on launch undershot our initial expectations,” the company wrote in its report. “However, sales initiatives that we kicked off in November 2021 and continued into the new year have resulted in sales growth, and we intend to work to continue to expand sales to make up for the title’s slow start.”

Square Enix has struggled to see the sort of success it would have hoped for with its Marvel-licensed games. Marvel’s Avengers was critically panned upon launch, and its subsequently poor sales resulted in significant losses for the company, with the game itself struggling to recoup development costs, following which Square Enix laid the blame at the game’s live service model and a “studio mismatch”. Hopefully things will go better for Eidos Montreal’s game, which certainly deserves to be successful.

In our review of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, we awarded it a score of 8/10, saying, “Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy might be by-the-numbers, but it’s a consistently enjoyable experience with great characters and an engaging story, thanks to an excellent understanding of what makes this property tick.” You can read our full review through here.

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, PC, and as a cloud-exclusive release on Nintendo Switch.