The passage of time has not been kind to Marvel’s Avengers.
Crystal Dynamics’ action-RPG, which billed itself as an adventure that gamers and comic book fans alike could find near-endless entertainment with (such is the premise of live service experiences), has seemingly failed to capture the hearts and minds of either camp, as recent estimates suggest the project has resulted in tremendous financial losses for publisher Square Enix. For many, that news will come as little surprise considering the meager, at best, concurrent player numbers recorded for the title on Steam a few weeks back, but any subsequent hopes of a recovery appear to be evaporating, and fast.
According to a post by industry analyst David Gibson on Twitter, Square has reported a ¥6.5 billion loss tied to Marvel’s Avengers which, when converted to the US dollar, translates to approximately $60 million. To put that figure into further perspective, sale volumes are noted to have been 40% below projections, implying that the total cost of bringing Iron Man, Thor, Black Widow and multiple other iconic heroes to consoles and PC amounted to well over $100 million.
Assuming all the above to be accurate, then, Marvel’s Avengers has yet to turn a profit, though it’s worth noting that the available data doesn’t seem to take into account in-game purchases for character skins and/or other cosmetics, so there’s certainly some leeway. At the very least, Gibson’s belief that only 3 million copies have so far been sold through to consumers represents a situation that’ll be tough to come back from.
With all post-launch DLC (maps, missions, characters, etc.) intended to be made available completely free of charge, it means Square has no choice but to rely on aforementioned microtransactions and game sales in order to balance the books, so to speak. Can the addition of Spider-Man (PlayStation only) be enough to save what’s essentially a sinking ship? Let us know what you think in the usual place below!
