Pay-To-Win Avengers Over As Square Enix Removes Option From Marketplace

We got access to Marvel’s Avengers Beta run a while back, and though we couldn’t play much, the little bit we did see was promising. But then the game came out, and fans everywhere felt let down. The combat system, which seemed simple enough in beta, turned out clunky and overly complicated. The characters’ looks were sort of MCU but changed just slightly enough to make everyone go, “um, what?” They lost so many players that the multiplayer feature started failing. But the choice Square Enix made that upset fans the most? Boosts in exchange for real money. The outcry even threatened the sales of their new Guardians of the Galaxy game (thankfully a far superior game). However, the pay-to-win era of Marvel’s Avengers is over. Yet, is that enough to win players back after betraying the fans (they promised never to create a pay-to-win system)?

By Ending the Pay-to-Win Avengers Problem, Square Enix Hopes the Controversy is Over Too.

Marvel’s Avengers fans felt like that robot over the pay-to-win additions. (Image: Square Enix)

In a hastily-written post on Reddit, the massive video game company tried to end the backlash as swiftly as possible. In the November 2^nd post, they wrote:

“After considering your feedback, we have decided that by the end of today we will remove Hero’s Catalysts and Fragment Extractors for purchase.”

However, they undercut their announcement (and apology) before even getting to it. In their intro, Square Enix claims that they “introduced as an option for an evolving player base, and did not see them as pay-to-win since they don’t offer power directly.” It’s such a poorly-written excuse that it almost comes off as them trying to gaslight fans into thinking they were playing the game wrong. As Reddit user Taserplace noted, “they should have cut this line out.” Instead, all it does is make their comment that “that this can be the first step in rebuilding confidence” in the company fall flat.

As a result, even with the pay-to-win debacle over, Marvel’s Avengers still faces backlash. Reddit users commented that they still need to fix multiple aspects of the game, such as the costumes costing $15 each. Again, real money. That’s kind of ridiculous considering that the game is on sale at Target right now for $20. And while they did deliver interesting DLC content with Black Panther and Hawkeye, the buzz wasn’t enough to boost the game. They already isolated too many Marvel’s Avengers fans over the pay-to-win issue on top of several others. Or, as AnotherGibaway stated:

“A very minor problem in the grand scheme of things. The game still has so many issues relating to the way it plays and what model it’s built upon.”

Are you interested in trying Marvel’s Avengers again?

(featured image: Square Enix)

Roman Colombo finished his MFA in 2010 and now teaches writing and graphic novel literature at various Philadelphia colleges. His first novel, Trading Saints for Sinners, was published in 2014. He's currently working on his next novel and hoping to find an agent soon.