Ps4 users who have pre-ordered certain physical or digital editions of Marvel's Avengers had the chance to spend nearly the full weekend exploring the game's beta and leveling up a handful of the launch characters for the upcoming action game. Some of the excitement of the weekend was soured by drama surrounding the PS4 exclusive nature of both the early access beta and, more importantly, a playable version of Spider-Man, but the testing was still very interesting.
Throughout the beta weekend, players had a chance to get hands-on with the game's multiple systems and find out if all of that gear and stat management was really as confusing as some early screenshots and first-impressions suggested as they completed the challenges needed to unlock some crossover rewards in Fortnite. There's no denying that Marvel's Avengers has a lot of moving parts, but that is going to be the case for any title that is aiming to be a service game that asks players to log on nearly every day for challenges and opportunities to level heroes up, earn new skills, and unlock stylish cosmetic items.
When it comes to the cosmetics, there are some very cool options for fans to explore. Each character has unique nameplates, emotes, and (most importantly for many users) costumes. Although the game is very gear-focused, that loot is invisible on the characters and the real changes in wardrobe come from unlocking new costumes by progressing through the game, across challenge cards, and spending resources in the Marketplace. With that in mind, another system that players are going to need to learn to master and understand is the Marvel's Avengers currency options.
As players progress through the game, it seems like they are going to earn two types of currency (at least based on our experience in the beta). There will be Units and Credits. Although both of these currencies can be used to purchase cosmetics, one is intended for Marketplace use and the other is intended for in-game Vendors.
Units
Units are the currency that players will use at in-game vendors or in-game marketplaces. This is the currency that will likely pile up much more quickly while progressing through the game's story mode and the standard daily activities without going out of the way to do anything special. An example of something that could be purchased with Units would be a tier of the hero challenge card (tiers can be purchased to skip ahead on the track that would otherwise be progressed by playing the game).
Credits
Credits, on the other hand, are exclusively spent in the Marketplace. This is the currency that players will use to purchase most of their costumes, emotes, or nameplates. In terms of what was available during the first weekend of beta access, this currency seems to be a lot harder to come by just by playing the game casually. The main way to earn in-game Credits that was identified through the beta so far seems to be progressing through certain milestones on the challenge cards.
Although it's a little confusing to have two different forms of currency (in addition to everything else players need to keep track of), it has sort of become the industry standard in games that will eventually include microtransactions. Based on what we know about the current system, it seems likely that players will eventually be able to spend real-world money to purchase credits, which can then be used in the Marketplace to unlock new costumes and other cosmetics. We'll likely learn a lot more about whether that's the case closer to the September 4 launch of the game.
Continue to check back for updates and guides throughout the remaining beta weekends as we continue to work through the content and power up our heroes.
Marvel's Avengers is set to release on September 4, 2020, for the PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One. A PS5 and Xbox Series X version will be released at a later date.