Watch Leaked Gameplay of Canceled 2012 Avengers Game

Square Enix is not the first company that wanted to release an Avengers game from Marvel. Ten years ago, when THQ was still alive and hadn’t  become THQ Nordic yet, it was developing an Avengers game for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii U and PC.

Now, THQ’s prototype of The Avengers for Xbox 360 has been found on YouTube channel PtoPOnline. It seems that the game was quite similar to the upcoming Marvel’s Avengers from Square Enix: co-op up to four people, leveling and individual skills, and a system of skins.

Judging by the prototype, THQ’s The Avengers planned at least four characters — Iron Man, Thor, Hulk and Captain America. The heroes gained experience for killing opponents and were able to perform team attacks.

The Avengers was developed by THQ Studio Australia and Blue Tongue. By mid-2011, THQ was fighting the troubled production of Homefront and the uDraw gaming tablet accessory. In addition, fluctuations in the rate of the Australian dollar led to the fact that the maintenance of Australian studios was very expensive. The publishing house canceled the superhero action game and closed both THQ Studio Australia and Blue Tongue.

They tried to save the game: a few weeks before the cancellation, THQ asked Marvel for financial help, but Marvel refused to allocate the budget. THQ sold the license for the Avengers game to Ubisoft. In the autumn of 2012, the French company released Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth on Xbox 360 and Wii U. It borrowed some concepts from THQ’s The Avengers, but overall turned out to be a completely different game that received mediocre reviews from critics — 62 out of 100 on Xbox 360 and 50 out of 100 on Wii U on Metacritic.