Marvel’s Avengers Add-Ons Leave Fans Furious
Marvel's Avengers players are angry over the new Thor skin.
2020’s Marvel’s Avengers is shaping up to become one of those games that had the potential to be a massive hit, but the company behind it seemingly made every effort to infuriate the fandom and turn them away from the game. The fans of the game are now protesting the newly added skin to one of the game’s superheroes, calling Crystal Dynamics lazy. This isn’t the first time players were unhappy about Crystal Dynamics’ decisions—the return of the Winter Soldier also attracted controversy regarding skin animation.
But what set the gamers off this time is the new Marvel’s Avengers Thor skin, which is an iteration of his MCU appearance. This wouldn’t be an issue if the superhero didn’t have the exact same skin already available within the game. The difference between the two is so minute that it’s silly to think that Crystal Dynamics considers its price tag justifiable.
Gamers certainly don’t think that way, and they’re currently voicing their concerns on Twitter. The point of contention, this time, is that the new skin is the exact replica of the old one, but without a helmet.
Admittedly, the unhappiness among gamers is both justifiable and silly at the same time, depending on your perspective. It’s silly because we’re discussing an additional cosmetic, which is an optional purchase. If someone doesn’t like it, Crystal Dynamics isn’t forcing them to buy the skin.
But it’s perfectly justifiable considering that the company charged the game, which brought fans and gamers nothing more but sheer frustration ever since the game launched in 2020 as a multiplatform release.
Marvel’s Avengers received mixed or average reviews upon release, and the situation hasn’t improved ever since, despite the much-needed improvements in the gameplay. In the weeks following its launch, Marvel’s Avengers saw a massive player drop due to frustrations caused by the game’s many problems, including bugs, repetitive gameplay, and lack of content in the base game. The game was in such bad shape that one patch fixed over a thousand player-reported issues within the game, but that didn’t stop the game from losing approximately 96 percent of its initial player base.
When something like that happens so early after launch, and the game doesn’t manage to recuperate its player base, it’s evident that we’re observing a failed and dying release. Approximately the same has happened to Cyberpunk 2077, but instead of half-assing their repairs like Square Enix, CD Projekt RED fixed their game, and Cyberpunk 2077 now has over a million players. Square Enix basically acknowledged the dying state of Marvel’s Avengers by stating that no major content would be released for the game in the future, except maybe cosmetics.
So, the fandom’s reaction, regardless of how silly it may seem, isn’t unreasonable. The expectations were high, the delivery was poor, and the customer service inexistent, which only served to further infuriate the gamers. Sure, Crystal Dynamics issued an expansion for the game and expanded the story, but there’s a saying about first impressions—they matter. There are occasional exceptions here and there, but apparently, Marvel’s Avengers isn’t one of them.
