Tag: Marvel’s Avengers

Former Virtuos creative director apologizes for how Marvel’s Avengers turned out

Cezar Virtosu said the game was “a very challenging” production.

It’s no secret that Marvel’s Avengers didn’t live up to the hype, and former Virtuos creative director Cezar Virtosu is sorry for that.

In an interview with Edge Magazine, Virtosu briefly touched on how Marvel’s Avengers turned out – in short, he’s not happy either (Thanks, GamesRadar).

“It was a challenging production, let’s say,” Virtosu said. “I apologize for that.”

Marvel’s Avengers came out back in August of 2020 and immediately received plenty of criticism regarding its monetization systems and strange progression treadmills. Even publisher Square Enix seemingly wasn’t happy with Marvel’s Avengers, as president Yosuke Matsuda infamously deemed it disappointing.

Earlier this year, developer Crystal Dynamics announced it is ending support for Marvel’s Avengers. After the upcoming March update, there won’t be any additional content — a rather unceremonious ending for what was supposed to be the next big thing, eh?

Virtosu has since left Crystal Dynamics to work on The Lords of The Fallen, an Elden Ring-like action RPG and reboot to 2014’s Lords of the Fallen. Saul Gascon, an executive producer on The Lords of the Fallen, describes the game as a “dream project.”

“Basically, Cezar, the CEO of our company, and myself stopped our successful careers to work on The Lords of the Fallen,” Gascon explained. “We want the studio to become a reference in the [Soulslike] genre. We want to be the second reference [after FromSoftware] because right now, there is no clear second reference.”

Editor’s note: In a previous version of this article, we credited Cezar Virtosu as the creative director of Marvel’s Avengers. Based on his Linkedin page, Virtosu was the creative director at Virtuos – a studio that did contract work for Marvel’s Avengers.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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Crystal Dynamics is ending Marvel’s Avengers support in 2023

Crystal Dynamics announced it will stop supporting Marvel’s Avengers after the multiplayer game’s March update and is giving cosmetics away

Crystal Dynamics announced it will stop supporting Marvel’s Avengers after the multiplayer game’s March update. That update is expected to release on March 31, 2023, but Crystal Dynamics said in a blog post that the update won’t add new features. 

The Winter Soldier and Omega Threat from update 2.7 in 2022 are the last pieces of new content. All support will end on Sept. 20, 2023, just three years after the game first launched. However, players will still be able to access single-player and multiplayer content, even once all support ends. Should any issues arise in the game after September, though, Crystal Dynamics said they can’t guarantee the team will actually be able to fix them.

The cosmetics marketplace will close down after the March update, and players won’t be able to purchase credits after that point. They won’t need to, though. Crystal Dynamics said the team is making all marketplace, shipment, and challenge card cosmetics available to all players for free as thanks for their support over the past two years.

Marvel’s Avengers will still be available for purchase at retail and digitally until Sept. 30, 2023. New digital versions will be taken down after that date, though you can still re-download it at any point. Pre-owned physical copies will still work and will give owners access to the free cosmetics.

As for Crystal Dynamics’ next project, the team recently announced it will partner with Amazon to publish a new Tomb Raider game at some point in the not-too-distant-future.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

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A surprise Marvel’s Avengers update is adding a new hero soon

After months of silence, a new Marvel’s Avengers update is on the way, and it’s bringing the Winter Soldier with it

It’s been a while, but Crystal Dynamics announced a new Marvel’s Avengers update is in the works, adding a new Omega Level Threat and the Winter Soldier as a playable hero in the multiplayer game on Nov. 29, 2022. Winter Soldier is the first new playable character in the Marvel game since Thor, who debuted in June 2022, and comes nearly a year after Thor’s predecessor, Spider-Man.

Scott Porter, who portrayed Bucky the Winter Soldier in Lego Marvel’s Avengers, will return to voice the hero in Marvel’s Avengers. Crystal Dynamics said Bucky is unique among other heroes in that he’s almost entirely focused on attack, with a moveset that combines all-new skills with hints of Black Widow and Captain America.

The Winter Soldier’s skill tree lets you build him in several ways, including as a powerful direct attacker and a ranged marksman.

As for the new Omega Threat, Crystal Dynamics said it’s a new endgame challenge in an AIM Lab against multiple new foes that culminates in a multiplayer battle against a revamped version of MODOK. You’ll need a power level of 175 to start this activity.

From the sound of it, this new Marvel’s Avengers update is the last substantial one for a while. The dev team said future updates will continue balancing heroes so they all perform well, with no major imbalances.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

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Jane Foster’s Mighty Thor is coming to Marvel’s Avengers next week

Another fan-favorite hero joins the roster of Square Enix’s action RPG.

After several months of teasing, Marvel’s Avengers is getting a mighty roster addition.

On Wednesday, Crystal Dynamics revealed some details on what Jane Foster, AKA The Mighty Thor, and how she’ll look in Marvel’s Avengers. She (naturally) bears a striking resemblance to everyone’s favorite Odinson but with a more intimidating demeanor. That’s a pretty typical trademark of the character too.

“Jane’s is designed to be fiercer and warrior-like,” Jeff Adams, art director on Marvel’s Avengers, said via the official blog. “Her aggressively-shaped winged mask, a departure from past versions of her comics look, is instantly evocative of her core DNA.”

Check out what Jane Foster looks like in Marvel’s Avengers below. There is no gameplay footage yet, but I can safely guess it isn’t Natalie Portman.

An animated teaser came out earlier this week that also goes into the character’s backstory.

Jane Foster will be available in Marvel’s Avengers on June 28, 2022, for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

Mighty Thor will be the first new character in Marvel’s Avengers since Spider-Man came out on PlayStation consoles. That was almost half a year ago, meaning the troubled live-service title isn’t exactly changing public perception much. If you’re interested, Marvel’s Avengers is on Game Pass.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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Marvel’s Avengers is adding Jane Foster, the Mighty Thor

After appearing in Thor: Love and Thunder’s new trailer, Jane is the talk of the town.

Everyone is still going wild over Jane Foster’s appearance in the new Thor: Love and Thunder teaser, and she’s popping up elsewhere too.

On Tuesday, Crystal Dynamics announced that Jane Foster, AKA The Mighty Thor, will be the next playable character in Marvel’s Avengers. Jane won’t make an appearance until Update 2.5, but Crystal Dynamics did hint at her ability set in Tuesday’s development update.

“Our hero designs are driven first and foremost by their core comic book identities,” Crystal Dynamics’ statement reads. “So, as a fellow wielder of Mjolnir, her suite of abilities will have a lot in common with the Odinson’s. However, she will also have elements that are distinctly Jane.”

It’ll likely be a while until Jane Foster debuts in Marvel’s Avengers, as Update 2.5 doesn’t have a release date yet. Heck, neither does Update 2.4, though Crystal Dynamics is targeting May for that patch.

It’s been a long, difficult road for Marvel’s Avengers. Even with additions like Spider-Man, the game didn’t pick up any steam and was still seen as a disappointment by publisher Square Enix. 

Crystal Dynamics is also busy working on another Tomb Raider, which will utilize the jaw-droppingly technical powerhouse that is Unreal Engine 5.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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Spider-Man doesn’t have story missions in Marvel’s Avengers

With great power comes no cutscenes.

There are no story missions for Spider-Man in Marvel’s Avengers, IGN  reported Monday.

Unlike  Black Panther: War for Wakanda  and several other expansions for Marvel’s Avengers, there are no grandiose in-engine cutscenes for the Spider-Man: With Great Power  DLC. Instead, the storyline comes by way of audio logs and artwork — sort of like a comic. Philippe Therien, gameplay director at Crystal Dynamics, told IGN  why spidey isn’t getting any big cutscenes like the other expansions for Marvel’s Avengers.

“Really that’s a simple decision for us. Spider-Man can play all the content, but then we release a piece of content that’s good on all platforms,” Therien said  via IGN. “Really, that was a decision that’s been that way since the beginning.”

You can catch a glimpse of Spider-Man in Marvel’s Avengers  below.

Crystal Dynamics calls Spider-Man: With Great Power  a Hero Event  instead of an Operation since there are no actual cutscenes. The wall-crawler will be playable during past missions, though. 

Marvel’s Avengers can’t seem to catch a break. The game  caught a lot of flak for its now-removed paid boosts  and  Square Enix’s president called it a disappointment. 

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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Spider-Man gets a reveal trailer for ‘Marvel’s Avengers’

The web-head makes his debut in Marvel’s Avengers.

A certain wall-crawler finally made his debut in Marvel’s Avengers  on Thursday.

Spider-Man’s reveal trailer in Marvel’s Avengers  shows off Crystal Dynamic’s take on the iconic character. He’s not the web-slinger from Marvel’s Spider-Man  by Insomniac Games  like many people were expecting — primarily due to the Spider-Man: With Great Power  DLC being exclusive to PlayStation consoles. However, he’s still full of snarky quips and one-liners, so it’s still a faithful depiction of the character. Shame that they didn’t get Yuri Lowenthal back to voice spidey. At least, it sure doesn’t sound like him in the trailer.

Take a look at Spider-Man’s reveal trailer in Marvel’s Avengers  for yourself below.

[developing story, check back for updates]

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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Here’s what Spider-Man looks like in ‘Marvel’s Avengers’

Pictures of Spider-Man, you say? We’ve got them.

We finally know what Spider-Man will look like in Marvel’s Avengers.

Spider-Man: With Great Power  DLC is adding the web-head to Marvel’s Avengers — though he’s exclusive to PlayStation consoles. That exclusivity deal led to a lot of speculation that this incarnation of the wall-crawler would be the same one seen in Marvel’s Spider-Man  by Insomniac Games. Well, a new piece of promotional artwork for the DLC came out, and it looks like this will be an original depiction of the character. Not 

Check out what the web-slinger looks like in the Spider-Man: With Great Power DLC for yourself below. 

[developing story, check back for updates]

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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Spider-Man is coming to ‘Marvel’s Avengers’ at long last

The wall-crawler is (nearly) here!

Spider-Man is finally heading to Marvel’s Avengers soon, but the wall-crawler is exclusive to PlayStation consoles.

On Nov. 30, the Spider-Man: With Great Power Hero Event will add the web-slinger to Marvel’s Avengers — for everyone that owns the game on PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 5, that is. Yup, Spider-Man is only on Sony consoles. Sorry, Xbox and PC players! 

The storyline for Spider-Man: With Great Power Hero Event  involves Peter Parker uncovering a plan by the Advanced Idea Mechanics (AIM) mega-corporation to get new technology that’ll beef up its Synthroid army and position the organization as a global threat. Peter partners with Ms. Marvel and Black Widow to hopefully end AIM’s nefarious plans while keeping his secret identity intact, of course!

There’s no trailer for the Spider-Man: With Great Power Hero Event yet, but Crystal Dynamics did outline some of the quality of live improvements coming soon.

No matter if you’re on PlayStation or not, patch 2.2 will introduce a bunch of stuff like the four-player Klaw Raid and some system improvements, including:

  • The maximum power level will increase from 150 to 175. 
  • Gear recycling allows players to upgrade whatever they have equipped with more powerful equipment they find
  • Shipments let players attain certain cosmetics, resources, and items via gameplay. Crystal Dynamics will elaborate more on how that’ll work soon.
  • Per-Hero Weekly Objectives finally lets players farm challenges on a per-hero basis rather than locking progression across the account.

It sounds like patch 2.2 will be a healthy update for Marvel’s Avengers, which is what it desperately needs right now. Square Enix’s president called the game a disappointment recently, and several controversial consumable items were taken off the in-game shop due to fan outrage. 

While Spider-Man being exclusive to PlayStation is odd, it’s not shocking considering that Sony still owns the character. It’s unclear if this incarnation of the web-head will be from Marvel’s Spider-Man 2  by Insomniac or not, but we’ll find out soon. Perhaps a return of everyone’s favorite Spidey voice actor Yuri Lowenthal is looming? We can only hope. 

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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Square Enix president says ‘Marvel’s Avengers’ is disappointing

We’re with you on this one, Mr. Matsuda.

Yosuke Matsuda, the president and representative director of Square Enix, isn’t happy with how Marvel’s Avengers turned out.

In  Square Enix’s 2021 annual report, Matsuda claims that the title was an ambitious challenge, especially regarding implementing its GaaS (Games as a Service) model. He mentions overcoming development hurdles like the transition to work-from-home due to the pandemic, but it wasn’t enough to turn Marvel’s Avengers  into a success.

“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,” Matsuda said. “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.”

Marvel’s Avengers  is practically an industry-wide punching bag by this point, and Square Enix knows it. Coming to  Xbox Game Pass last month  was an opportunity for the game to find a new audience, though  many subscribers were vocal about technical issues. Then controversy struck when paid boosts came to the in-game shop, only to be removed a month later. Marvel’s Avengers can’t catch a break, it seems.

Firaxis Games is working on its spin on spandex-clad heroes with Marvel’s Midnight Suns, though  it got hit with a delay on Wednesday. Not a good day to be a Marvel fan, that’s for sure. 

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.

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