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Analyzing the Failure of Marvel’s Avengers: A Closer Look at What Went Wrong

Only three years later, it closed its doors with a serious economic and playable problem.

Analyzing the Failure of Marvel’s Avengers: A Closer Look at What Went Wrong
Nacho Requena Molina

Nacho Requena Molina

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And it’s over. Today, March 31 will be the last day that Marvel’s Avengers will receive support from the developer studio. Thus, three years after its release says “goodbye” to one of the most anticipated video games before it hit the stores, but which has passed with neither pain nor glory, has left players indifferent and has been a real economic hole for Square Enix. But why did Marvel’s Avengers fail and what did it do wrong?

Marvel's Avengers Download

As usual, there is not one point in particular where Marvel’s Avengers did badly, but several at once that leave unsatisfied. The first of them, for example, was the exaggerated loot system. Through the now characteristic colors on the objects, the player had to change the superheroes’ equipment. The problem at this point was that the game had an exaggerated amount of loot boxes and microtransactions, to such an extent that it overwhelmed. It was more focused on getting the player to spend money than delivering a successful playable experience. And when this is unbalanced in a video game it always shows. Square Enix changed many aspects with future updates, but it was too late for that.

Secondly, the mission structure system was outdated. Instead of going for either a straightforward open world or a linear one (like Guardians of the Galaxy), Marvel’s Avengers stuck with a format where through the ship you would select a mission, a loading screen would pop up and take you there. This caused the vast majority of assignments to be insipid and insubstantial, that is, they were indifferent when it came to completion. And this is the worst thing that can happen to a game: that it leaves you indifferent.

The third point where Square Enix’s game also did badly was the variety of characters it possessed. “But if this is good, right?”, yes, it’s good if done right, but this wasn’t the case. Not all superheroes were fun to play. If you added to this a combat system that didn’t shine too much either, you quickly realized that some characters were better implemented than others. This imbalance ended up making it boring to play with some of them. Perhaps it would have been better to focus on a few very well-designed characters instead of a lot of colorful ones.

With all this behind it, it was normal that Marvel’s Avengers did not work in the market. As we say, it was not a question of one aspect in particular, but of several in general. In addition, to this we had to add others, such as the fact that the game came out with a poor technical level, a fact that weighed it down quite a bit with the first players.

Farewell gift

On the occasion of the closing of Marvel’s Avengers, the studio is going to give one last gift. Through a publication on Twitter they have commented that the 2.8 update will include a War Machine skin.

“As a thank you to all the players who have enjoyed our game since launch, we have a gift for you!” the tweet states. “The War Machine suit for Iron Man will be available when update 2.8 goes live this week for players who have earned at least one trophy/achievement before April 1.”

It’s a shame that a video game that promised so much has slipped by the consoles of so many gamers. It’s going to be hard to get a next Avengers title on the table.

Marvel's Avengers Download

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Nacho Requena Molina

Nacho Requena Molina

Journalist specialized in videogames and technology. Almost two decades dedicated to it.

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