Marvel's Avengers just released update 1.8, which makes various improvements to the game and prepares it for the upcoming Cosmic Cube event. It's a fairly standard update that normally wouldn't generate all that much attention, but as it turns out, it's triggered a rather serious bug. Marvel's Avengers players who have yet to download the latest update may want to hold off until a fix is released.
As reported by various users online, including Forbes' Paul Tassi, the Marvel's Avengers 1.8 update is showing players' IP addresses on screen. Basically, the new Marvel's Avengers update is doxxing players who are streaming the game. Crystal Dynamics is aware of the situation, referring to the issue as a "floating string of text" and is looking into it. However, a timeframe for when this major Marvel's Avengers bug will be fixed hasn't been revealed.
Whereas most Marvel's Avengers bugs and technical issues have been minor inconveniences for players, this bug could have serious ramifications. And with Marvel's Avengers struggling to maintain its playerbase, something like this is likely the last thing that the game needs. Oftentimes live service games can bring lapsed players back into the fold with new updates, but how many are likely to return when they hop online for the new update and see their IP address on full display?
Prior to this bug, it seemed as though Marvel's Avengers was enjoying a bit of an upswing in public perception of the game. It seems fans are excited for the Marvel's Avengers: War for Wakanda expansion, which looks like it will be providing content more in-line with the story campaign. The Marvel's Avengers story campaign earned quite a bit of praise when the game launched last year, with most of the criticism aimed at its endgame content and co-op modes.
That goodwill could potentially be tarnished by this bug, but that remains to be seen. If Crystal Dynamics is able to fix the Marvel's Avengers IP address issue fast, then it can minimize the damage. Whether or not streamers will take the risk of streaming the game again is unclear, though, and that could be devastating to its longevity. Streamers have a lot of sway when it comes to what games people are playing, and so if no one is streaming Marvel's Avengers, it will likely hurt its player count even more.
We'll update this article as soon as Crystal Dynamics has confirmed that the Marvel's Avengers doxxing bug has been fixed.
Marvel's Avengers is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.