Crystal Dynamics is planning to end its support forMarvel’s Avengersover the course of 2023, according to a new report citing company insiders. The end-of-life allegation arrived just as the developers added acel-shaded Captain America skin forMarvel’s Avengers.
The first two post-launch updates forMarvel’s Avengerswere delayed by a combined total of seven months following the title’s September 2020 release, which was met with mixed reviews due to bugs and a general lack of content, albeit even most of the game’s biggest critics praised its combat mechanics and voice acting. The project’s problems with inconsistent post-launch support continued over the following two years; afterMarvel’s Avengerskicked off 2022 with a whimper, its latest major update that introduced the Winter Soldier and AIM’s long-promised Cloning Lab finally arrived in late November, 25 months later than initially announced.
RELATED:Marvel’s Avengers Update Adding Winter Soldier and More
According to a new report from eXputer,Crystal Dynamicsisn’t planning any new updates toMarvel’s Avengersbeyond 2023, as it has long intended to finance between three and five years' worth of post-launch content for the game. The developers still appear to be planning to add at least four more playable heroes, as one of the newly data-mined audio files from the game seems to include a line from Jane Foster (played by Zehra Fazal) that’s teasing the arrival of Captain Marvel, She-Hulk, Ironheart, and Shuri. She-Hulk’s inclusion was reportedly handled by Crystal Dynamics' partners until the character was put on ice in late 2021 after the project underwent a strategic overhaul under the leadership of Brian Waggoner.
Waggoner is a former EA game designer who previously worked atMarvel HeroesandMarvel Heroes Omegaas part of Gazillion Entertainment and took over for Lead Designer Philippe Therrien around August 2021. Unfortunately, he then went on to initiate several controversies overMarvel’s Avengers’addition of a pay-to-win systemand a decade’s worth of publicly shared discriminatory views which Crystal Dynamics even publicly condemned in late November, replacing him as the project’s spokesperson in the process.
The same report claims that Waggoner will be leaving Crystal Dynamics after the studio sunsetsMarvel’s Avengersin 2023, adding that the project also effectively shuttered the company’s in-house Foundation engine. The software framework allegedly amassed significant tech debt over the years and is internally seen as one of the main reasons for the game’s many technical issues, as it simply wasn’t up to the task of powering a modern live-service multiplayer experience. Crystal Dynamics already confirmed that itsnextTomb Raidergame will use Unreal Engine 5back in April.
Marvel’s Avengersis available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. The Google Stadia version of the game remains playable until the service shuts down on July 09, 2025.
MORE:Marvel’s Avengers Needs Something Bigger Than Winter Soldier To Bring Fans Back
