It looks like Marvel’s Avengers is approaching the end of the road. The superhero title has hit one stumbling block after another over the course of the last few years and never really managed to get off the ground. Having largely ben a critical and commercial disappointment, it has, nonetheless, received semi-regular content updates- though it seems like that will no longer be the case, as has been claimed by leaks and reports multiple times in recent weeks.
Prominent Marvel’s Avengers leaker Miller Ross has claimed in a report published on Exputer that Crystal Dynamics has ceased development on the game, with an official announcement regarding the same set to be made sometime next week.
The project’s lead developer Brian Waggoner was recently in the midst of a controversy following racist remarks on his Twitter profile. As per Ross’ report, Waggoner has since been let go with Crystal Dynamics, and the studio seemingly has no plans of replacing him. The remainder of the small team that is currently working on it is soon also going to be shifted over to the next Tomb Raider game.
The game is set to receive one final major update, which will bring improvements to traversal mechanics for a number of characters. Other changes are also set to be made with the update, such as overhaul of the currently available cosmetic microtransactions and the removal of artificial time gating systems. That said, plenty of content that had been planned and was in the works is allegedly being shelved.
As per the report, this includes not only the previously-leaked She-Hulk expansion, but also a new free roam mode called Patrol Mode, where players would take on bosses in unique encounters; join-in-progress functionality, which would allow players to seamlessly drop in and out of ongoing missions; and even a new story arc involving Ultron.
Following its final aforementioned update, Marvel’s Avengers will allegedly only receive maintenance patches for bug fixes, though the report claims that the game will be kept playable for the existing player base for “as long as possible”, and also remain on sale digitally until at least September.
Previously, Ross has also claimed that Embracer Group – which is, of course, now the parent company of Crystal Dynamics – is working on a deal with Marvel Games that “exists well beyond” the Avengers game. It remains to be seen whether those plans – assuming they’re real – will be impacted by Avengers’ alleged shutdown in any way.
