After debuting in early December, Marvel's Midnight Suns seems to have had a disappointing first sales month on store shelves.
The Xbox, PlayStation, and PC Marvel title launched on December 2 to fairly positive reviews, with many praising developer Firaxis for adapting its signature tactical formula to the super-powered franchise.
Marvel's newest tactical RPG was a long time coming, having been delayed almost a whole year before ultimately coming out to finish off 2022.
The game was a true love letter to not just the oft-forgotten Midnight Suns superhero team, but the entire Marvel Comics universe. However, despite all this, the game seems to not be resonating with fans quite as one would expect.
Marvel's Midnight Suns Disappoint
New sales data indicated Marvel's Midnight Suns may have had a disappointing first month.
According to PlayStation's digital store sales charts for December, the 2K Games-published superhero epic was the 14th most downloaded game in the US/Canada on PlayStation 5 (PS5) and did not even crack the top 20 on the European charts.
Despite stellar reviews (82% on Metacritic), Midnight Suns came in two spots below Gotham Knights, a game that currently sits at 68% on Metacritic and has been out for more than two months at the point of this data's publishing.
Of course, Marvel's venture into the world of tactical RPG was going to be niche from the get-go, but the fact that it debuted on the list behind titles like The Witcher 3 (a more-than-seven-year-old game) should be cause for concern.
Yes, The Witcher did launch its next-gen patch during the month of December; however, one would think a new Marvel title of any kind would trump that.
The title also popped up below Crisis Core-Final Fantasy VII-Reunion (which came in at #10 on the North American PS5 sales charts). This was a remake of a PlayStation Portable (PSP) Final Fantasy VII spin-off that had almost half the time on the market when compared to Midnight Suns.
Midnight Suns debuted on December 2, giving it almost the entire month to garner sales; whereas Crisis Core launched nearly two weeks later on December 13.
The full North American list can be seen below:
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
- FIFA 23
- NBA 2K23
- Grand Theft Auto V
- Madden NFL 23
- The Callisto Protocol
- God of War Ragnarök
- Need For Speed Unbound
- ELDEN RING
- Crisis Core –Final Fantasy VII– Reunion
- Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
- Gotham Knights
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- Marvel’s Midnight Suns
- Cyberpunk 2077
- Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
- NHL 23
- GRAN TURISMO 7
- Sonic Frontiers
- The Last of Us Part I
What Will Happen to Marvel's Midnight Suns?
For the developers at Firaxis Games - along with the publisher, 2K - this is going to be concerning news. Of course, they probably have seen internal sales figures and will have a better idea of exactly where the game sits when compared to projections and publisher expectations, but it will not stop fans from worrying.
Marvel's Midnight Suns - at least critically - is a success. The game received near-glowing reviews, with critics loving its mix of super-powered storytelling and deep tactical gameplay. But it is news like this that could make 2K and its parent company Take-Two Interactive rethink their plans going forward.
There is an extensive DLC plan already in the pipeline for the game, so it would make sense that the Midnight Suns team sees that through; however, beyond that is a huge question mark.
Firaxis has made it clear that PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch versions of the title are on the way, so that could provide a bit of a sales bump when those hit. However, it feels like the damage may be done.
The game is already getting discounted pretty significantly, which is never a good sign this close to launch, and despite the developers' best wishes, a potential Marvel's Midnight Suns 2 could now be put into question.
Marvel's Midnight Suns is available now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
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