At the San Diego Comic-Con International, Microsoft and Marvel announced a licensing agreement which gives Microsoft the exclusive rights to develop and publish massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) featuring Marvel's stable of more than 5,000 characters for use in games developed for the Xbox 360 system and published by Microsoft Game Studios.  According to Microsoft VP Peter Moore: 'With this next generation of gaming, Marvel fans will finally have the ability to create choices with their favorite superheroes, villains and creatures in unbelievable detail -- all with the power of Marvel's incredible vision and the Xbox platform.'

MMOGs, which enable thousands of players to interact online simultaneously, represent one of the biggest areas of growth for the multibillion-dollar interactive entertainment industry, and are not to be confused with the primarily computer-based MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role-playing games).  In the MMORPGs such as Everquest, players carefully construct a character and proceed through a series of adventures and quests to heighten the powers of their online alter egos, but modern console gaming systems (such as the first generation Xbox and Playstation 2) also have online capability, which allows players to compete individually (or in teams) with opponents in different cities or countries.  The MMORPGs demand a monthly fee for participation, while in the case of the MMOGs for console games the primary revenue stream comes from the purchase price of the game itself.

Back in 2002 Marvel licensed its characters to Vivendi Universal for a MMORPG (see 'Marvel Licenses Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game').  According to a French Website (Gamekult.com) the Marvel MMORPG is slated to be unveiled later this year and Marvel has filed suit against NCSoft claiming that NCSoft's City of Heroes MMORPG infringes on Marvel's trademarked characters.