Marvel's Avengers developer Crystal Dynamics reportedly canceled the release of She-Hulk.
According to eXputer, trusted Marvel's Avenger leaker Miller Ross claimed the studio scrapped plans to add She-Hulk to its roster of playable characters. Ross explained that development for the attorney-turned-superhero was plagued with problems, with accidental leaks and internal restructuring repeatedly delaying She-Hulk's release. "The absence of She-Hulk specifically has long haunted Marvel's Avengers, with multiple accidental confirmations this past year of not only her presence in the pipeline but also the identity of her voice actress Krizia Bajos," Ross wrote. "Sources tell me that She-Hulk was in active development in late 2021 by mostly external partners and was shelved when Avengers shifted entirely in-house under [design lead Brian Waggoner], a byproduct of the existing long-term strategy being overhauled."
Ross further reported that Crystal Dynamics originally planned to wait for a better opportunity before it restarted production on She-Hulk. He continued, "The intention was to resume work on the character at a time when the team had sized up and could support development at a scale large enough to create wholly original gameplay, after a period of smaller content drops and onboarding improvement to demonstrate the title's worthiness of further capital injections. Suffice to say, this did not ultimately come to pass."
She-Hulk Delays
The report supported Ross' previous claims that Crystal Dynamics was forced to delay development on She-Hulk after it experienced major shortages in its budget and manpower. Ross claimed She-Hulk was supposed to make her in-game debut in 2021, but developers instead chose to reallocate vital resources to improving Marvel's Avengers' multiplayer experience and the development of Jane Foster, aka Mighty Thor. Ross additionally revealed he remained skeptical of the game's overall future, with the leaker stating that he wasn't sure Marvel's Avengers would reach version 4.0 due to its low player count.
The Winter Soldier Arrives
Marvel's Avengers previously added Bucky Barnes, aka the Winter Soldier, to its roster of playable heroes with the release of patch 2.7. Crystal Dynamics additionally revealed the American-veteran-turned-Soviet-assassin was voiced by actor Scott Porter, who previously portrayed the Winter Soldier alongside other beloved Marvel characters in several superhero video games. Patch 2.7 also added a new challenge with the Cloning Lab Omega-Level Threat, which featured the return of the villainous cyborg, MODOK.
Marvel's Avengers is available for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC.
Source: eXputer