With that said, Square Enix is hoping that the game’s addition to the Xbox Game Pass will be enough to help it maintain a healthy player base.
Is the Xbox Game Pass enough to save Marvel’s Avengers?
Now should have been the perfect time to release a superhero game, let alone one based on the Avengers superhero team. Unfortunately, Crystal Dynamics’ take on Earth’s mightiest defenders has had a hard time convincing gamers to take a swing at it. Packaged as a live-service game, Marvel’s Avengers has struggled to keep gamers entertained right from the start. One of the biggest criticisms of Marvel’s Avengers is the lack of content. Subsequent expansion has not helped its cause at all. Today, Square Enix revealed that it was adding Marvel’s Avengers to the Xbox Game Pass on September 30. This version of the game will include everything that’s been released for the game so far, including Kate Bishop, Hawkeye, and the War for Wakanda expansion. With that said, the arrival of Marvel’s Avengers on the Xbox Game Pass comes just in time for the game’s first-anniversary celebration. According to Square Enix, Marvel’s Avengers is going to host a Quad XP event that will run from September 30 to October 4. Ironically, Square Enix initially partnered with Sony for Marvel’s Avengers. The Japanese company even promised to release PlayStation-exclusive content for the game, including Spider-Man as a playable character. One year later and Spider-Man is nowhere to be found in Marvel’s Avengers. It appears that this decision has done Square Enix more harm than good. On the other hand, Square Enix’s previous partnership with Microsoft via the Xbox Game Pass has seen good results. Although Outriders had its fair share of problems, the looter shooter drew in more than 3.5 million unique players in its first month alone. It’s clear that Square Enix thinks that there’s a lot of value in making Marvel’s Avengers “free” for Xbox Game Pass subscribers. Hopefully, the other upcoming video games based on Marvel properties will do better than Marvel’s Avengers. Comic book fans can look forward to getting their hands on Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy next month. There’s also Firaxis Games’ Marvel’s Midnight Sun, as well as Insomniac Games’ Marvel’s Wolverine and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.
