Mobile game developer Kabam Games is responsible for many mobile games, including Shop Titans, Star Wars: Uprising, and MARVEL Contest of Champions. Though the latter was released five years ago, the Marvel brand and brawler fans have kept the title alive with new characters releasing even now.
Kabam usually releases motion comics for their new characters, and such is the case with this month's Black Widow and Red Guardian additions, both of which are inspired by the upcoming Marvel Studios film. In support of the new champions, we had a chance to speak with a couple of the people at Kabam about them along with several other general inquiries about the game.
In this interview, we chat with Creative Art Director Gabriel Frizerra and John Phillipson, who reveal some interesting and fun information. Check it out!
Joe: What was it that initially inspired you to create Contest of Champions rather than a game based on a different IP?
Gabriel Frizzera: That’s easy… we have a high number of “Omega Level” Marvel geeks in the office, as well as many fighting game fans. When we found out we would have the chance to create a new fighting game with Marvel, we got really excited.
The Contest of Champions comic, a classic no-holds-barred cosmic brawl that was the first crossover to bring together all the different Marvel families, seemed like an obvious choice as a setup. At the time, Marvel didn’t have a fighting game for mobile that could go head-to-head with the distinguished competition, so we jumped at the opportunity, even never having worked on a fighting game before.
Joe: How did the idea come about to utilize motion comics when promoting upcoming character releases for Marvel Contest of Champions?
Gabriel Frizzera: One of the things that clicked right away when we started working with our partners at Marvel is that we are storytellers at heart. Video games are a storytelling medium for us, one that you get to collaborate with the players to create epic adventures together. But sometimes games have limited venues to tell a more traditional, linear story (plus we don’t want to bore the players with lots of cutscenes when they just want to play), so as soon as Contest was launched, we started looking for places outside the game to extend the storylines of our nascent universe.
The first motion comics were a way to showcase the characters, but soon we started experimenting with the form, creating 1-2 minute shorts that would complement the game experience, even if sometimes we don’t exactly focus on the characters we’re releasing. We play with the language, the style, make it funny, sad or scary, depending on the tone of this month’s story, and we don’t set boundaries. Whatever works we try, and we have a lot of fun month-to-month creating them.
Joe: Can you share any trivia or behind the scenes information about the making of Marvel Contest of Champions?
John Phillipson: When we were making Korg he never had the mechanic of gaining Crowd Excitement whenever you dodged an attack. This was only added because I found a method where you can sit in the corner and intercept him forever with ease so the designer behind him decided to add that as a new mechanic. Sorry to all of you who had a worse time against Korg because of me haha.
What do you guys think of these comments? Check out the motion comic for Black Widow below!
In the wake of the Cabal’s collapse, Black Widow has been tasked with locating and recovering a lost mind control weapon. To accomplish her mission, Agent Romanoff will need the help of an old friend. Red Guardian is a fellow former soviet and an honorable and trustworthy ally. However, they soon discover that they are not the only ones chasing the lost Cabal technology. A secretive mastermind has employed the skills of Taskmaster, the photo-reflexive mercenary, to stop Black Widow from finding this weapon at all costs!
It’s a race across The Battlerealm, with new foes to fight and where old allegiances will be tested in this month’s Event Quest: Black Widow: Red By Dawn!
MARVEL Contest of Champions is available on Android and iOS. Black Widow (Deadly Origin) is now available and will see the addition of Red Guardian later this month.