Marvel's Blade: Everything we know about Bethesda's new game
Blade isn't just getting a new movie from Marvel, the iconic hero and vampire hunter is also getting a new game as well. Announced at The Game Awards this week, Bethesda Softworks is teaming up with Marvel Game to develop a new "mature, single-player, third-person game" based on the comic book hero. Here's everything we know about this new and very intriguing project.
An original story
Although Blade has been around since the 1970s, Bethesda's game isn't a retelling of any existing story. Yes, he'll still be fighting vampires primarily, but it's an original story that will feature "the studio's signature immersive gameplay and world-class narrative."
As for the story, we did get a brief synopsis, along with a teaser trailer.
Bethesda's Blade game will take us to the heart of Paris which is under quarantine due to a supernatural emergency. Vampires have emerged and are terrorizing the city, forcing many to remain in their homes at night.
"In Marvel’s Blade, Eric Brooks is the legendary Daywalker, half-man, half-vampire torn between the warm society of the living and the rushing power of the undead. "
Who is developing Marvel's Blade?
Marvel's Blade is being developed by Bethesda's Arkane Lyon, the award-winning studio behind Dishonored and DEATHLOOP, in collaboration with Marvel Games. Both Dishonored and DEATHLOOP are critically acclaimed franchises, so there's a lot to be excited about with this new game.
"“As a kid of mixed origins, I felt a special connection to Blade – a hero with a dual heritage himself. The opportunity to put our spin on this character is a dream of mine and a challenge that our team embraces with a passion. We couldn’t be happier to put players in Blade’s boots, as he becomes the champion of my hometown of Paris, one stake at a time.” "
- Dinga Bakaba, Game Director, Arkane Lyon
Marvel's Blade release date and platforms
In the press release, Bethesda noted that Arkane Lyon has just begun development on the game, which means it's probably still a few years away. If I had to guess, I'd say a holiday 2025 release window at the earliest, but it could be longer than that.
As for what we can play it on, no consoles were announced. However, it should be noted that Bethesda/Zenimax is now owned by Microsoft, technically making this a first-party Xbox game. Arkane released Redfall this year which, of course, was only released on Xbox platforms.
Neither the trailer nor the website for Blade featured any platform branding, but it's possible this was an intentional move from Microsoft to avoid any anti-trust scrutiny -- especially as Microsoft is coming off multiple challenges for its acquisition of Activision. Announcing an Blade as an Xbox exclusive may have caused a bit of an uproar, despite Sony having its own Spider-Man exclusive game on PlayStation.
For now, no one seems to know if Marvel's Blade will be exclusive to Xbox. But seeing as how it's a first-party Xbox game, we can probably assume it will be free at launch through Xbox Game Pass.