This past week Square Enix issued an update for Marvel's Avengers allowing players to upgrade their games to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. The upgrade has spurred a discussion regarding Xbox's oft-forgotten next-gen Smart Delivery feature, which allows for smooth transitions from past-gen games to next-gen versions. What started as recognition for Xbox's work, however, has now turned into some friendly shade being thrown PlayStation's way.
The shade starts with a Twitter thread from the official Marvel's Avengers account detailing how to upgrade from PS4 to PS5. It's a complicated process, so it's spread out across multiple tweets. Tom Warren of The Verge then quotes these tweets, describing how to upgrade from Xbox One to Xbox Series X: "launch the game." Here's where Xbox comes into the picture. Xbox GM of marketing Aaron Greenberg then replies to Warren, saying " 'Thanks' #SmartDelivery."
If it wasn't clear, Greenberg is making a reference to a now-legendary bit of shade that PlayStation threw at Xbox before the launch of the PS4 and Xbox One. A commercial detailed how to let a friend borrow a game for PS4, which involved then-PlayStation president Shusei Yoshida handing a game to then-VP Adam Boyes. Boyes then says, "Thanks," and that's the whole video. The burn is at least partially responsible for Xbox canceling plans to limit sharing used games through DRM with the Xbox One.
Greenberg is quoting Boyes' comment from that 8-year old video when he says, "Thanks!" in his Smart Delivery tweet. It's basically a way to affirm that Xbox has one-upped PlayStation this time, but also acknowledges Xbox's past mistakes in a self-critical way. Suffice to say, it's meant to be said jokingly, but also recognizes that PlayStation's made a misstep.
Fans are having fun with Greenberg's post and have so far not gotten too hostile. Most replies have laughing gifs or the Captain America "I understood that reference" style of response. A surprising amount of people are talking about how impressed they've been with Smart Delivery.
To be fair to all those involved, PS5 owners trying to upgrade their copies of Marvel's Avengers are understandably very frustrated. Upgrading requires downloading not just the PS5 version of the game, but also the PS4 version, so that the game's save file can be synced and transferred. It's a lot of unnecessary extra work, which PlayStation can hopefully improve in the future. Like with sharing used games, gamers expect it to just work. When it doesn't, it's probably deserving of a little bit of shade.
Marvel's Avengers is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.