A late 2021 delay pushed Marvel’s Midnight Suns, the turn-based tactical RPG being developed by XCOM studio Firaxis, into the second half of 2022. An official release date still hasn’t been announced, but it may have slipped out thanks to leaked box art and preorder details.
The leaked images have been taken offline by a copyright claim issued by 2K Games (although they’re still easy enough to find if you’re interested), but as noted by Nils Ahrensmeier on Twitter, they indicated an October 6 release date, and that three editions will be available: The standard release, an Enhanced Edition with five premium skins (Captain America (Future Soldier), Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell), Magik (Phoenix 5), Nico Minoru (Sister Grimm), and Wolverine (X-Force), and a Legendary Edition, with 23 premium skins and the four-DLC season pass.
Nine of the 12 Marvel heroes who will appear in Midnight Suns are already known—Doctor Strange, Magik, Iron Man, Wolverine, Ghost Rider, Blade, Captain America, Nico Minoru, and Captain Marvel—and the box art leak revealed two more: Spider-Man and the Scarlet Witch. That leaves one character still unaccounted for (could it actually be Morbin’ Time for real?), while the player will take on the role of a 13th hero known as the Hunter.
Interestingly, the Legendary Edition also features alternate cover art that replaces the good guys with bad guys: Lilith, Mother of Demons and chief antagonist, flanked by demonic versions of characters including Venom, the Hulk, and Sabretooth, who was previously shown in a gameplay demo. Venom and Hulk are new, and it’s not a huge leap to assume that you’ll be throwing hands with these folks, and possibly other Marvel villains and heroes, as you quest to save the world. There’s another evil character on the cover who’s a bit harder to identify, but is possibly a demonic Scarlet Witch. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time Wanda’s allegiance was unclear.
All of this is unconfirmed, but I’d expect to have official word come down soon. Summer Game Fest, which will feature games from dozens of publishers and developers, is set to kick off the 2022 E3 season (even though there’s no E3 this year) on June 9. Our very own PC Gaming Show will follow a few days later, on June 12.