Marvel Games is in a pretty interesting position right now. While it enjoyed the unprecedented highs reached by the likes of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and Marvel Rivals, it also endured the low sales of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy and Marvel’s Midnight Suns (also, they really like adding that “Marvel” tagline on every game they develop). However, it’s hard to deny the track record and reputation of the division were heavily hurt by the failure of one specific title: Marvel’s Avengers.
Just like we once dreamed of the day Earth’s Mightiest Heroes would assemble on the big screen, fans were eager to see them join forces in the video game world as well. Unfortunately, what should’ve been a pretty memorable experience was riddled with live service mechanics, battle passes, life-less maps, and a lack of gameplay variety. As simple as that, Square Enix’s Marvel’s Avengers was left to be forgotten right next to Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
Now, superhero fans are back at square one: Waiting for the day when they can step into the shoes of the Earth's Mightiest Heroes in a memorable adventure. However, a new report suggests Marvel is up to the task yet again — looking to right the wrongs of their past.
-->Now, superhero fans are back at square one: Waiting for the day when they can step into the shoes of the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in a memorable adventure. However, a new report suggests Marvel is up to the task yet again — looking to right the wrongs of their past.
New Avengers game is reportedly in development
According to renowned insider, Daniel Richtman, a new Avengers game is currently being developed and won’t take place in the same world as Square Enix’s previous title. It’s worth mentioning that Marvel has recently put a lot of resources into its video game division. 2025 will see the release of Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra, while other projects such as Marvel’s Wolverine, Cliffhanger’s Black Panther, EA Motive’s Iron Man, and Marvel’s Blade are simultaneously being developed as well. So a new Avengers title would be the cherry on top — especially if done correctly.
The recently released Marvel Rivals can be praised for many different things, but one of its greatest strengths is how different every character feels. Spider-Man is agile and fast to the point it takes a lot of practice to master him. On the other hand, The Punisher is slow and heavy, but is great at holding a space and inflicting a lot of damage very quickly — which makes for a great contrast. Unfortunately, the ill-fated Marvel’s Avengers attempted to make every single character feel balanced, so there wasn’t a noticeable difference between playing as Hawkeye or Iron Man other than the ability to fly (very slowly, for that matter).
If a new Avengers game is indeed in the works, then it should embrace the difference between its character roster. Punching an enemy as the Hulk should be radically different than doing so as Black Widow. However, Natasha Romanoff should be able to infiltrate into places where the Hulk couldn’t do so silently. On one level, players should be able to experience a stealth mission as Hawkeye while the next feels more like a hack-and-slash adventure starring Thor. Otherwise, why bother creating a video game with multiple playable characters?
Besides, we need to address the obvious: We don’t need another half-baked live-service game. If Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and Marvel’s Avengers proved something, it is that developers can’t get away with creating a very short campaign with no mission variety and expect to fix things down the road. Players will know if a title was made out of passion (such as Marvel Rivals) or just as an excuse to earn quick cash — and the latter will fail 9 out of 10 times. So fingers crossed the next Avengers game learns from the mistakes of its predecessors and delivers a memorable adventure worthy of its titular characters. Otherwise, perhaps Marvel should stick with making games with one single protagonist.
