After a rocky start and, to be quite honest, an equally rocky life, Marvel’s Avengers is coming to an end. Crystal Dynamics has announced on the official Marvel’s Avengers website that after 2.5 years, the game will be officially dead following the last update on March 31, 2023.
Trying to access the official website as of now is hit and miss due to thousands of fans trying to find out what’s going on.
An important announcement about the future of Marvel's Avengers: https://t.co/hTmenK6wmJ pic.twitter.com/JVZNNDNzZy
— Marvel's Avengers (@PlayAvengers) January 20, 2023
Even after official support ceases on September 30, 2023, both single- and multi-player gameplay will remain available. However, there might be no support if any issues pop up. Let’s keep it honest, after that date; I wouldn’t expect anyone to assume that Crystal Dynamics will be able to help. They may not even be in a position to help.
Update 2.7, which added the Winter Soldier Hero and Cloning Lab Omega-Level Threat, is the last new content to be added to the game. Sadly, this means the story will never be completed, and new characters that were planned, such as Captain Marvel, are going to be scrapped. No new cosmetics are coming to the Marketplace, and all final balance updates will occur in Update 2.8 in March.
Another big hit is that Spider-Man will still be exclusive to the PlayStation. I would have liked to have seen it him, at least on the PC, as a thank you.
The cosmetics Marketplace is also being turned off; once Update 2.8 is released, players will no longer be able to purchase credits. Those who still have credits will see them converted into in-game resources. This really hurts as players who’ve spent money won’t be able to get that money back, and hearing this announcement may no longer want to play the game – so that’s more money lost.
Unfortunately, the remainder of the players who still enjoyed Marvel’s Avengers are getting shafted here, and I’ve talked to a few, who are entirely gutted about this announcement. When Square Enix sold Crystal Dynamic to the Embracer Group in May 2022, many figured this would be the end of this game. Given that Square Enix saw Marvel’s Avengers as a failure, it would make sense that its new owner likely saw the same thing, and wanted to offload it or cancel it as soon as possible.
Sadly, this is yet another multiplayer superhero game that could have been more, had grand ambitions, and now has been cut down. As for what will happen to the license, it will revert to Disney, as Crystal Dynamics is working on a new multiplayer Tomb Raider multiplayer game, Amazon will publish that. We still could see another developer working on the Avengers license, but as for who is a good question.
