Square Enix confirms that Marvel's Avengers was a disappointment, stating that it aims to learn from the game's missteps.
As noted in Square Enix's annual report, Marvel's Avengers failed to meet the publisher's expectations, largely due to the troubles surrounding its live service elements. Yosuke Matsuda, President and Representative Director at Square Enix, writes, "I would also note that Marvel’s Avengers was an ambitious title for us in that we took on the GaaS (Games as a Service) model. We overcame a variety of unexpected difficulties in the final phase of the game’s development, including needing to transition to work-from-home due to the pandemic. We were able to surmount these challenges and release the game, but it has unfortunately not proven as successful as we would have liked."
Matsuda goes on to say, "Nonetheless, taking on the GaaS model highlighted issues that we are likely to face in future game development efforts such as the need to select game designs that mesh with the unique attributes and tastes of our studios and development teams." Marvel's Avengers was developed by Crystal Dynamics, a studio largely experienced in developing single-player games like Soul Reaver and several modern Tomb Raider titles.
"While the new challenge that we tackled with this title produced a disappointing outcome, we are certain that the GaaS approach will grow in importance as gaming becomes more service oriented. How we go about creating new experiences by incorporating this trend into our game design is a key question that we will need to answer going forward," concludes Matsuda.
Marvel's Avengers received mixed reviews upon its launch in 2020. While both critics and fans lauded the game's single-player content and narrative, most players unanimously agreed that the live-service approach felt at odds with the core design. Despite this reception, Crystal Dynamics has maintained a steady stream of content, the largest of which was the War for Wakanda expansion, which introduced a new zone, villains and Black Panther as a playable character.
Following Marvel's Avengers' inclusion on Xbox Game Pass, the game's community was thrown into disarray following the addition of non-cosmetic microtransactions. Many fans viewed the new in-app purchases as a broken promise, resulting in many quitting the game for good. The response was so negative that Crystal Dynamics recently reversed the decision, removing the Hero’s Catalysts and Fragment Extractors from the in-game store completely.
Marvel's Avengers is available on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC.
Source: Square Enix