The wild ride that is Marvel's Avengers continues. After a troubled launch and first few months, things seemed to stabilize a bit with the War for Wakanda expansion, along with Avengers inclusion to Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass. Both events helped the player base grow a bit, though for many fans, it was largely too little, too late. However, the goodwill that Avengers was able to cultivate took another hit recently due to the microtransactions and in-game store.
Early in October, developer Crystal Dynamics added what many felt was a pay-to-win system to the online store. Players willing to spend a bit of cash could get their hands on XP boosts which allows faster leveling. The inclusion set off many fans who recalled the XP nerf that happened back in March and now felt like this move was specifically made to entice players to purchase the items. The frustration also stems from the fact that Crystal Dynamics previously indicated that the in-game store would be purely for cosmetic items, though the purchasable skins are another area where the community has issues as well.
One constant of Marvel's Avengers has been the available cosmetics for purchase, with new skins arriving fairly oftten including the special Halloween style outfits like CapWolf or the MCU costumes for each of the characters. However, one criticism of this feature has been the prices, which most of the community has agreed is very high. Alongside the War for Wakanda expansion, Crystal Dynamics introduced a temporary price reduction to in-game store items.
In a new Tweet from the PlayAvengers account, the decision has been made to make this discount permanent. Starting now, Legendary Outfits are 900 Credits, Epic Outfits 700, and Rare Outfits 500 in Marvel's Avengers online store. While the news was met with praise, many still lamented the fact that a new tier of item, known as exotic, was added which include the previously mentioned MCU outfits. The discount does not apply to these special marketplace items, so players will still need to pony up the 1400 credits for each one.
Between the price reduction, confirmation of Spider-Man coming later in November, and the removal of XP boosts, player morale should be on the upswing. However, Square Enix still appears to be down overall on Marvel's Avengers. In a recent annual report, Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda admitted that Marvel's Avengers was not as successful as the company would have liked and that the company needs to select game designs that mesh with "the unique attributes and tastes of our studios and development teams." Regardless, Square Enix remains interested in the live service model, so players should expect to see more of it in the future.
Marvel's Avengers is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.