Just over two years after its original release, Crystal Dynamics is preparing to end active development on Marvel’s Avengers, a decision it says it “made in collaboration with our partners.”
According to a blog titled “Final update on the future of Marvel’s Avengers,” Support will end on September 30th, after which digital purchases will no longer be available. All solo content will continue to be playable after support ends, and multiplayer will also remain available.
Important announcement about the future of Marvel’s Avengers: https://t.co/hTmenK6wmJ pic.twitter.com/JVZNNDNzZy
— Marvel’s Avengers (@PlayAvengers) January 20, 2023
Crystal Dynamics doesn’t plan to release any new stories, features, or heroes, making update 2.7 — which added the Winter Soldier and the clone-level threat of Omega — the final content release for The Avengers. Spider-Man will remain exclusive to PlayStation.
The final balance update will be update 2.8, which will be released on March 31st. After that, Crystal Dynamics says it will shut down the cosmetics market and credits will no longer be purchasable. Credit balances will be converted to in-game resources, and all cosmetics will be available for free.
A huge disappointment
We called Marvel’s Avengers one of the biggest disappointments of E3 2019 when it was first revealed, and it fared slightly better when it came out the following year, earning middling reviews from gamers and critics alike. Soon there was a significant drop in player numbers as players got bored and moved on.
Crystal Dynamics continued to release new content, including some new characters, but it never really got back up to speed after its troubled launch.
Community man Miller Ross first broke the news that Marvel’s Avengers would be shut down and that the team would be transferred to Amazon Games’ Tomb Raider project. The report also claims that Crystal Dynamics fired lead designer Brian Wagoner after a series of tweets from 2014 were revealed in November, Which leads to a public rejection of the studio.
Reached for comment on the report, Crystal Dynamics provided a link to the blog and did not release any further statement.
“We know this is disappointing news because everyone in our community has such a connection to these characters and their stories,” Crystal Dynamics wrote on its website. “We are so, so grateful to have you on this adventure with us. Your excitement for Marvel’s Avengers—from your epic shots in Photo Mode, to your threads describing who our next heroes will be, to your Twitch streams—has played a big part in bringing the game to life this.”
Kat Bailey is a senior news editor at IGN as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Do you have a tip? DM her at @the_katbot.