Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics' Avengers game was very much meant to be a massively popular live-service title that would rival the likes of Destiny 2. But ever since its messy and bug-filled launch, interest in it has waned considerably and a lot of players have quickly deserted Marvel's Avengers.
Not only that, but Square Enix admitted that it suffered a financial loss following Avengers' launch and it was recently confirmed that it has yet to recoup the development costs. It's still arguably too early to call the game dead, as it has only been two months since it launched, and it sounds like Square Enix has no intention of abandoning it either.
According to a translated financial briefing, Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda says that the company is looking into improving future sales by offering ample additional content AKA DLC through the second half of the fiscal year, which ends in March 2021.
DLC was always one of Avengers' biggest pushes, with free post-launch content being hyped up long before the game was even released. Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics promised meaningful additions that would introduce new characters and expand the world and story, something which sounded not too dissimilar to what Marvel achieved with its cinematic universe.
Since launch, however, most of the updates have done little to win players back and the lack of a roadmap meant fans were in the dark about when they could expect new characters to join. Recently, though, it has been confirmed that the first major DLC will be releasing in early December, introducing Kate Bishop to the roster and a new story arc set after the events of the main game.
Hawkeye's DLC has also been teased for early 2021, with a storyline set in what looks like a ravaged future and featuring supervillain the Maestro, an alternate future version of the Hulk.
Aside from that, Spider-Man and Black Panther have been confirmed for Avengers (though the former is exclusive to the PlayStation versions), and there have been leaks and rumors suggesting other playable heroes will include the likes of War Machine, Captain Marvel, and She-Hulk.
When Matsuda was asked what he expected Avengers' profitability to look like in the third quarter, he simply responded with that Square Enix's primary intention is to expand sales so said profitability can be improved. He also attributes the losses to partly be a result of the expensive marketing campaign that was done to make up for delays caused the coronavirus pandemic.
Right now, Avengers is at a discount as part of the Black Friday sales to possibly attract new and old players, though whether the discounts or the upcoming DLC will be able to save it is anyone's guess.
Marvel's Avengers is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Stadia, and Xbox One. It will release for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in 2021.
Source: Square Enix