Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy from developer Eidos-Montreal did not sell as well as publisher Square Enix might have wanted, but the game is apparently seeing some growth lately thanks to its arrival on Xbox Game Pass.
Senior creative director Jean-Francois Dugas told Eurogamer that Guardians of the Galaxy isn't perfect. "It can always be better," Dugas said. "But is it a great ride? And is it something this year or last year that you played that is unlike everything else? And is it worth spending your time on? I honestly think it is, from a game standpoint."
Dugas went on to say that the team did "everything" possible to make Guardians of the Galaxy a success in the market, but it might not have been enough. Dugas pointed out that one issue could simply be awareness. "Even though we say all 'Guardians [of the Galaxy] are known', it's still a new IP [in the video game market]. It could be a lot of people don't even know that the game is out yet, or they're not sure exactly what it is," Dugas said.
Senior narrative director Mary DeMarle mentioned that Game Pass specifically is helping people discover the game who might not otherwise have. "What I love right now is that people, especially with Games Pass, are playing it and they're sharing the experience," DeMarle said. "We make games to touch people, we make games to hit an audience. And it's great that it's finding its audience, and it's great that it keeps going forward."
Earlier this year, Square Enix management said Guardians of the Galaxy's initial sales "undershot" the company's expectations, though it did not share any specific unit sales. Despite that, Square Enix said it has seen sales growth for the title since it launched sales initiatives in November 2021. "And we intend to work to continue to expand sales to make up for the title's slow start," Square Enix said.
Outside of the game series, Marvel is producing the movie Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 for release in May 2023. It will be writer-director James Gunn's final Guardians film.