In retrospect, you could see the failure of Gazillion’s Marvel Heroes coming a long way off. And that’s what makes the already-suspicious crowdfunding campaign to revive it laughable at best and outright fraudulent at worst.

As someone who invested heavily in the game — and on multiple platforms — I was sad to see it go. I love Marvel. I love action RPGs. Combining the two seemed like a no-brainer. But from the departure of David Brevik to the controversy surrounding the omega prestige system … well, let’s just say there were hints that the game was in trouble.

Still, when it shut down suddenly at the end of 2017, fans were stunned and outraged — especially those of us who had spent generously on hero and costume packs with the idea that we were helping keep the game going.



Under the circumstances, I understand why some people would feel like they’re not quite done with Marvel Heroes. And it’s tempting to hold out hope that it could be saved.

Unfortunately, it looks like someone is taking advantage of that sense of gamer loyalty and nostalgia.

An Idiegogo camapaign from “Will Adkins” of the “Paragon Institute” promises an attempt to save Marvel Heroes, through the help of its loyal and heroic fan base. All we need to do is give them $450,000 to acquire the rights to the platform and keep the game running. Or maybe $900,000, considering the bankruptcy creditors. Heck, let’s just say as much money as they can get.

It’s so bold, it just might work. Except it won’t.

The campaign hand waves the cold, hard fact that Disney owns the intellectual property here, that the Marvel name is very valuable, and that it’s going to take a lot more than chump change and a, “pretty please,” to get Disney to let someone continue a game they already decided to axe.

Oh, but that’s okay. Because the crowdfunders say the US Copyright Office is reviewing a rule that creates a loophole for their proposed MMO. It’s true that there is an copyright exemption allowing discontinued games to be preserved (e.g. by libraries and museums to curate them). This is not the same as letting someone continue to profit off a very well-defended copyright and trademark.

Let’s just say that if they plan to take on Disney and Marvel in a copyright war, they’re going to need a lot more than $450,000 to do it.

But they know that. And they slipped that tiny detail into a lot of other rah-rah language about what they’re trying to do. In the fourth bullet down under the goal of “Keep Marvel Heroes Running AS-IS,” you see:

“Unless millions are raised to fund this campaign, the odds of this option being successful are very limited.”

So if the fundraisers are pessimistic about the goal and selling point of their campaign, what’s the money for?

And that’s where the fine print comes in. If they can’t resurrect Marvel Heroes (and let’s be real here: I have a better chance of being named People’s Sexiest Man Alive than they do of relaunching Marvel Heroes as it was), they plan to either remove all the Marvel content to create a new superhero universe or make a new game entirely.

So that’s what you’re really funding if you donate to this campaign. You’re funding an attempt to create a new game. You’re just being sucked in with the sweet candy of Marvel Heroes.

But there’s nothing wrong with funding new indie games, right? We should be encouraging that, shouldn’t we?

Hypothetically, yes. But this is where we get into “caveat emptor” territory.

The money goes to Paragon Institute, a non-profit education organization, to establish Elder Mage Studios, a “learning lab” pairing pro game developers and amateurs.

We’re indebted to MMOFallout, MMOBomb, and MMORPG for doing some detective work on Paragon Institute. They’re not open for another year or so, and their address is on a residential street in Cary, North Carolina. They’re also related to a diploma mill and non-accredited university that was shuttered a decade ago under rather shady circumstances.

Here’s where we note the difference between possible and probable. Is it possible that Paragon Institute harbors the tools and talent to launch a successful indie game? Sure. But then why not share some of those bona fides on the Indiegogo page? Is it probable that they can and will do it? Well … no.

As for Elder Mage Studios, their website is just an extension of the crowdfunding page.

And to top it all off, their half-million or so is a “flexible goal,” meaning that they’re going to keep whatever they raise, regardless of how things work out.

So what are you really funding if you give to this campaign?

You’re not getting Marvel Heroes back. Let’s make that very, very clear. To call it a one in a billion chance is being generous.

You’re basically just giving money to a guy running a not-yet-open education “thing” of some kind, linked to a closed diploma mill, so that he can start a game studio and (maybe) make a game that reminds you in some way of Marvel Heroes. But which (again, I must stress) is not going to be Marvel Heroes. If it even happens. Which (again) seems unlikely.

I’m just saying that if you want to give money to someone to work on their independent video game, you might want to look for a better bet.