A little more than two years after its original release, Crystal Dynamics is preparing to end active development on Marvel’s Avengers, a decision it says it “undertook in conjunction with our partners.”
According to a blog titled “Final Update on the Future of Marvel’s Avengers,” support will discontinue on September 30, 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.
An important announcement about the future of Marvel’s Avengers: pic.twitter.com/JVZNNDNzZy
— Marvel’s Avengers (@PlayAvengers) January 20, 2023
Crystal Dynamics does not plan to release any new stories, features, or Heroes, making Update 2.7 — which added the Winter Soldier and the Cloning Lab Omega-Level Threat — the final content release for Avengers. Spider-Man will remain a PlayStation exclusive.
The final balance update will be Update 2.8, which will be released March 31. Afterward, Crystal Dynamics says it will turn off the cosmetics marketplace and credits will no longer be purchasable. Credits balances will be converted into in-game resources, and all cosmetics will be made available for free.
A mighty disappointment
We called Marvel’s Avengers one of E3 2019’s biggest disappointments when it was first revealed, and it fared little better when it released the following year, earning middling reviews from players and critics alike. It soon saw a major drop in player count as players grew bored and moved on.
Crystal Dynamics continued to release new content, including several new characters, but it never regained momentum after its troubled launch.
Community insider Miller Ross first broke the news that Marvel’s Avengers would be shutting down and that the team would be moved to Amazon Games’ Tomb Raider project. The report also claims that Crystal Dynamics fired lead designer Brian Waggoner after a series of tweets from 2014 were unearthed in November, leading to a public disavowal from the studio.
Reached for comment on the report, Crystal Dynamics provided a link to the blog and did not issue any further statement.
“We know this is disappointing news as everyone in our community has such a connection to these characters and their stories,” Crystal Dynamics wrote on its website. “We’re so, so grateful that you came on this adventure with us. Your excitement for Marvel’s Avengers — from your epic Photo Mode shots, to your threads theorizing who our next Heroes would be, to your Twitch streams — has played a large part in bringing this game to life.”
Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.