The latest update for Marvel's Avengers adds a variety of paid experience and resource boost, breaking Crystal Dynamics' promise that the game would only ever include cosmetic microtransactions.
Announced in a new blog post, the in-game store for Marvel's Avengers now contains a section for Consumables. These items, which can be bought with real money, increase the speed that resources or experience points are gained while playing. Players wanting to skip the grind can now purchase the consumables and play with an advantage over other players. While many live-service games offer similar items, fans of Marvel Avengers are expressing their frustration due to Crystal Dynamics initially promising that all microtransactions will be for cosmetic items only.
The blog post announcement specifies that the duration of the boost can be adjusted depending on how much money is spent. For 100 credits, the consumable lasts a day while 250 credits will run for three days. 500 credits will provide players with a boost for a week. 500 credits, the smallest available bundle, cost 5$ USD.
The game's subreddit is littered with posts and comments criticizing the developers for the addition of Consumables. Many users are quoting Crystal Dynamics' E3 2019 presentation where senior community manager Meagan Marie stated, "Our promise to the community is that we won’t have random loot boxes or pay-to-win scenarios.” The discourse has become so heated that the subreddit moderators have pinned a Megathread to the top of the forum, dedicated to discussion on the matter.
The situation has been further exacerbated by users pointing out that in March 2021, Crystal Dynamic nerfed the game's XP gain, preventing players from gaining levels quickly. At the time, the development studio said, "We want people to level up, in fact, we really want to see more people level up more Heroes, as playing the full Avenger roster should be the most fun thing you can do, but we don’t want the leveling up experience to be too overwhelming or diminish exploring each skill purchase."
The backlash comes in the wake of a successful few months for Marvel's Avengers. The launch of the War for Wakanda expansion is seen as a high point for the game by many fans, with many hopeful the game was recovering from its rocky launch.
Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics have yet to respond to the criticism. Marvel's Avengers is available for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC.
Source: Crystal Dynamics, Reddit