The Disappointment of Marvel’s Avengers

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As a big fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it is safe to say that I was extremely hyped when I heard an Avengers game was in development. I remember staying up all night just to watch the Square Enix conference at E3 2019. The game had everything needed to become a AAA entry for the ages. Your favorite heroes and an acclaimed developer, I mean, what more can someone ask for? What could go wrong?

The Introduction of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes

The first glimpse we got of the game was back in 2017. In January, a small teaser was released on Marvel Entertainment’s Youtube channel. Only 2 years later, at E3 2019, the fans got some in-game footage and a brief explanation of some mechanics and overall gameplay.

At first, everyone got a bit disheartened because the original actors’ voices and looks were not in the game, which is understandable. Having the original performers from the MCU would have cost an exorbitant amount of money. Announced as a live-service game, with an original story, the title was under the scrutiny and critical eyes of most videogame enthusiasts. It was set to release in May 2020 but was delayed until September, to polish some edges.

The A-Day Has Arrived

It was looking good for Marvel’s Avengers in the beginning. The sales were racking up, making this the second biggest digital game launch for Square Enix. The beta, just before the official launch of the game, also gathered lots of players, with almost 5 million people jumping into the heroes’ shoes. According to SteamCharts, the game had around 28 thousand peak players, playing at the same time, which isn’t a lot, but bear in mind that these are only Steam stats.

However, this initial success was rapidly falling apart. As the reviews and first impressions came in, the players bashed Square Enix for delivering a messy and buggy game, which was rushed and unfinished. The looting aspect of the game was also boring and repetitive, just like the missions that the player was presented with.

A Financial Disaster

Presently, the game is on life-support. It dropped to an average of 800 players on Steam, in the last 30 days. Not even the promises of DLCs and bugfixes tackle the dire situation that Marvel’s Avengers is in. And it’s just as bad for Square Enix. 

The publisher already admitted that the entry didn’t meet the expectations, selling only 60% of the overall expected sales. With a 200 million dollar budget, despite having almost 3 million units sold, it’s easy to assume that the company had a tremendous loss. Without any official data from Square Enix, some analysts calculate that the publisher had a whopping 117 million dollar loss.

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Looking Forward

Square Enix, in the form of its president, Yosuke Matsuda, stated that “we hope to make up for slow initial sales by offering ample additional to grow our sales,”. Some of the characters that are confirmed to be added, as DLCs, are Kate Bishop and Clint Barton. Additionally, as a PlayStation exclusive, Spider-Man will be added to the current hero roster. All we can do is sit back and watch, as these additions (and possibly future ones) shape the future of Marvel’s Avengers.

What about you? Have you played Marvel’s Avengers? What are your takes on the game? Do you think that it’s one of the biggest disappointments of 2020? What are your takes on the game? Let us know!

Diogo Alexandre
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