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Marvel’s Avengers to be delisted in September as support winds down

By Tomas Franzese January 20, 2023

Crystal Dynamics has confirmed that it will stop working on Marvel’s Avengers, with the final significant update coming March 31 before official customer support ends on September 30.

In a blog post on the game’s website, Crystal Dynamics says that the “decision was made in conjunction with our partners that now was the right time to make this change,” and that “no new stories, features, or Heroes will be added to the game” going forward. It added that Spider-Man will remain a PlayStation exclusive character. Thankfully, the post also confirms that both single-player and multiplayer will still be available to play in Marvel’s Avengers after September 30. Update 2.8, which releases on March 31, will disable the purchase of Credits and convert remaining Credit balances into in-game resources for players alongside some other balance updates. There will be no refunds to players who have spent money on the game, though.

The credit balance conversion table for Marvel's Avengers final update. — Image used with permission by copyright holder

As is to be expected with an update like this, the developers are also making content previously only available behind a paywall free to players. That means all Marketplace, Challenge Card, and Shipment cosmetics will be free for players to redeem after March 31. If you haven’t picked Marvel’s Avengers up yet, you’ll need to do so by September 30, as it will be removed from digital storefronts then.

Marvel’s Avengers was just never able to find its footing despite its use of a great IP. Hyped up as the next great live service game ahead of its release, the game was plagued with problems upon its launch in September 2020, and post-launch support has been slow and delay-filled. Rumors suggest that the team working on this game has only gotten smaller and smaller as Crystal Dynamics has moved on to projects like Tomb Raider and Perfect Dark, so the game never really had a chance to come back from a rocky launch like Destiny or No Man’s Sky did.

Ironically, even this closure announcement didn’t go smoothly, as the entire website for Marvel’s Avengers went down when Crystal Dynamics tweeted a link to the news at 5:30 p.m. ET today. A follow-up tweet from the game’s account says “high traffic” caused those issues.

Marvel’s Avengers is available now for PC, PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.

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Tomas Franzese is a Staff Writer at Digital Trends, where he reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…

Gaming

Marvel’s Avengers Mighty Thor update lets me down for the last time

Jane Foster and Thor both wield Mjolnir while fighting enemies.

I have stuck with Marvel's Avengers through thick and thin. I was hyped for the game before it was released, stayed with the game through its rocky post-launch window, and have returned for weeks on end after every hero release. Even for me, though, the wait between Spider-Man and Jane Foster's Mighty Thor was rough. That gap between heroes was about seven months, and the only significant updates between then and now have been a couple of missions and some quality of life changes, most of which were in a March update that didn't work on PS5 for over a day.
Marvel's Avengers WAR TABLE Deep Dive - The Mighty Thor
Because of this dearth of updates, I eagerly jumped back in when Jane Foster's Mighty Thor was added on June 28. While I can clearly see how Marvel's Avengers has improved since September 2020 and still think there is a really fun action game at its core, I can no longer forgive it for failing me as a live service game. Like every update of Marvel's Avengers, Jane Foster's addition comes with its own set of problems, and I just don't have the faith that the developer can turn things around anymore.
You won't behold in breathless wonder
Thor is the Marvel's Avengers character I’ve probably played the least of, which did help make Jane Foster's Mighty Thor feel a bit fresh to me. Still, there's no denying that her update feels a bit light compared to previous hero drops, and the sentiment among the player base is that she's too similar to the version of Thor that's been available since launch.
The hero update is missing basic features like a training room, loading screen animation, or even more substantial in-game cutscenes that even the controversial Spider-Man update had. This version of Jane Foster was also randomly teleported over from another universe and it doesn't come with much story content, which plays further into the feeling of her being shoehorned in.
That’s disappointing, as Zehra Fazal gives a good performance and the audio logs feature some strong writing as you learn about her alternate timeline and why she feels empowered by taking on the Mighty Thor mantle. The narrative is one place where Marvel’s Avengers still shines but has never really been able to put enough focus on. It appears that's something no update will change. Her challenge card also doesn't contain anything too special either, so there's not much pushing me to spend money on her or to engage with the game in the long term in order to unlock more items.

The lack of new content puts a lot of pressure on how Jane Foster's Mighty Thor plays, but this will probably be a bit of a letdown for hardcore players, especially those who frequently use Thor. Thor and Jane share a lot of abilities and even some takedowns. The biggest differences are that Jane has a little more range than Thor; she uses All Mother's Blessing instead of the Odinforce to counter and charge attacks. Plus, her Ultimate Heroic Ability The All-Weapons is more similar to Hawkeye's Ultimate, as Mjolnir flies around on its own and hits several enemies.
Because The All-Weapon is a fun Ultimate ability to use and I tend to prefer ranged characters in Marvel's Avengers, I do actually like playing Jane a little bit more than Thor. I’m okay with "echo characters" in games that try to have large rosters, but when it’s the game’s only new character in seven months (10 months if you aren’t on PlayStation), then a character that mostly feels like a clone and doesn’t bring any substantial story mission content is a going to be a disappointment.
I've wanted this service to live
Playing this update, it's clear that she's primarily a clone character made to tie in with the impending release of Thor: Love and Thunder, which is a tough pill to swallow when Marvel's Avengers has been so inconsistent as a live service. I've put dozens of hours into Marvel's Avengers since launch, but ever since I got through the War for Wakanda expansion, updates have been sporadic and felt like less than what came before. Spider-Man and Jane Foster had a decreasing amount of new content surrounding them, and Crystal Dynamics has mostly focused on onboarding updates that aren't super relevant to players like me who have stuck with the game since launch.
I'm finally ready to let go of Marvel's Avengers. It fails to keep me consistently engaged with compelling content, something that is critical to making a live service game successful. I've supported Crystal Dynamics' sporadic updates as I hoped it was building toward a more consistent live-serviced schedule. Things do seem like they might start getting a bit better following Jane Foster's addition, as July's first big update has been detailed and a developer is already teasing the next hero. That said, when the developer continues to disappoint in updates, was sold off by Square Enix, and publicly won't commit to releasing a long-term roadmap, this Jane Foster update feels like too little too late for an inconsistently updated game.

Gaming

Square Enix sells Tomb Raider, Deus Ex developers to Embracer

Lara Croft runs from a crashing plane in Tomb Raider.

Square Enix has offloaded its North American operations as it announced the sale of Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal, and Square Enix Montreal to Embracer Group today. The deal also nets Embracer Group over 50 notable franchises such as Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Thief, and Legacy of Kain.
Crystal Dynamics is best known for its work on the Tomb Raider franchise, though it recently released the tumultuous live service Marvel's Avengers game. Eidos Montreal is behind series like Deus Ex and recently garnered critical acclaim following the release of Guardians of the Galaxy. Square Enix Montreal is a mobile-focused studio that makes games like Lara Croft GO and Hitman Sniper.

Embracer Group is purchasing the three studios, which employ over 1,100 developers, for only $300 million. The status of certain series like Sleeping Dogs and Gex, as well as the status of the Marvel deal that spawned Marvel's Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy game, are still in question. As of now, the only announced game from these studios is a brand-new Tomb Raider that will run on Unreal Engine 5, though the related press release says Crystal Dynamics is "actively working on several AAA projects."
Meanwhile, the announcement says the Eidos Montreal "is working on a host of AAA projects including both new releases from beloved franchises and original IP," and that Square Enix Montreal "will continue to develop and operate memorable mobile games based on AAA IP." Embracer is interested in these studios' potential to make single-player AAA titles for PC, consoles, and mobile and all of the classic series that come with them.
While it's not the best-known gaming company, Embracer Group is much bigger than you might think. This European holding company owns a massive range of developers and publishers from around the world. THQ Nordic, Deep Silver, Gearbox, Saber Interactive, Coffee Stain, and all of those studios' subsidiaries are owned by Embracer. The company even has holdings outside of video games, as it recently acquired Asmodee and Dark Horse.
These former Square Enix studios and the franchises that come with them will simply beef up the company's already massive offerings. Embracer and Square Enix expect this deal to close between July and September 2022.

Gaming

Fuser support winds down following Harmonix acqusition

The diamond stage in Fuser's Headliners update.

Harmonix seems to be taking resources away from its support of Fuser, just months after being acquired by Epic Games.

In a news post on Harmonix's website, the developer, which is also behind the Rock Band franchise, detailed some changes coming to the rhythm game over the course of this year, most of which scale it back. However, Harmonix made a point to reassure fans that the game isn't going anywhere anytime soon: "While the way we support the community is changing, we remain committed to supporting the live, in-game features and carry a ton of appreciation for the Fuser fam and your boundless creativity."