‘Marvel’s Avengers’ “a disappointing outcome” reveals Square Enix President

Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda has revealed that Marvel’s Avengers has “not proven as successful as we would have liked” in a new annual report.

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The report, which also revealed that Final Fantasy VII Remake has been a huge success for the legendary Japanese publisher acknowledges the shortcomings of the superhero title.

“I would also note that “Marvel’s Avengers” was an ambitious title for us in that we took on the GaaS (Games as a Service) model”.

Matsuda goes on to reveal production issues that stemmed from the working environment the team at Crystal Dynamics had to transition to in the game’s final months:

“We overcame a variety of unexpected difficulties in the final phase of the game’s development, including needing to transition to work-from-home due to the pandemic.”

He continues:

“We were able to surmount these challenges and release the game, but it has unfortunately not proven as successful as we would have liked.”

Matsuda goes on to reveal the lesson that the team learned about the GaaS business model, and how they would approach it in the future:

“Nonetheless, taking on the GaaS model highlighted issues that we are likely to face in future game development efforts such as the need to select game designs that mesh with the unique attributes and tastes of our studios and development teams.”

“While the new challenge that we tackled with this title produced a disappointing outcome, we are certain that the GaaS approach will grow in importance as gaming becomes more service-oriented. How we go about creating new experiences by incorporating this trend into our game design is a key question that we will need to answer going forward.

Developer Crystal Dynamics has recently faced criticism from players, with the strongest reaction coming from the implementation of paid XP boosters which players considered “pay to win”. On November 2, the developer announced that it had decided to remove them, following fan feedback.

​”We apologize for not responding sooner to your concerns about the addition of paid consumables in the Marketplace,” a post on the Marvel’s Avengers subreddit reads. “We introduced them as an option for an evolving player base, and did not see them as pay-to-win since they don’t offer power directly.

Meanwhile, a Majora’s Mask speedrunner has set a new world record for 100% completion.