Marvel’s Avengers didn’t do as well as Square Enix had hoped it would. The recent video game, which brought the heroes of the Marvel universe to a console near you, has underperformed up to this point. So much so that the company has reported massive losses for the second quarter of its financial year. 

 

As reported by PC Gamer, Square Enix reported losses of $48 million. It is believed that the company’s HD Games division is almost entirely responsible for those losses. More specifically, the underwhelming release of Marvel’s Avengers is believed to be the main culprit. 

 

The game, which hit shelves in September, was incredibly expensive to produce and equally expensive to market. The hope was that they could produce a hit, not unlike Marvel’s Spider-Man, which was exclusive to the PlayStation 4. In this case, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes would be available on virtually all platforms, save for the Nintendo Switch. 

 

Unfortunately, critics were divided on the game. It currently holds a 67 percent rating on Metacritic. Fans were similarly not impressed, by and large. Square Enix has not yet reported specific sales figures but the losses indicate they are underwhelming. 

 

What this means for the lifespan of the game remains to be seen. Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics had intended to release multiple DLC updates to the game as time rolls on, including additional characters, such as Hawkeye, and story expansions. If the game continues to sell poorly, those expansions probably won’t last as long as originally planned. That means those who purchased it may get even less than they had bargained for in the long run. 

 

Here is the synopsis for Marvel’s Avengers. 

 

“Marvel’s Avengers is an epic, third-person, action-adventure game that combines an original, cinematic story with single-player and co-operative gameplay*. Assemble into a team of up to four players online, master extraordinary abilities, customize a growing roster of Heroes, and defend the Earth from escalating threats. In a future with Super Heroes outlawed, a young Kamala Khan must reassemble the Avengers to stop AIM. Marvel’s Avengers continues the epic journey with new Heroes and new narrative delivered on an ongoing basis, for the definitive Avengers gaming experience.” 

Marvel Avengers- it looks like the total cost of the game is closer to $170m-$190m given they only expenses 70% of cost in the qtr plus marketing costs. Why someone didn’t say stop post the multiplayer beta will remain a mystery . Square are adamant they can make a recovery ….

— David Gibson (@gibbogame) November 7, 2020

“Square Enix – reported Yen6.5bn loss for HD Games driven by Marvel Avengers, would not say how many sold but that volumes were 60% of plan. Implies game cost over $100m to make but only sold 3m or so. Ouch. Marvel Avengers- it looks like the total cost of the game is closer to $170m-$190m given they only expenses 70% of cost in the qtr plus marketing costs. Why someone didn’t say stop post the multiplayer beta will remain a mystery. Square are adamant they can make a recovery…” said industry analyst Dave Gibson on Twitter. 

Marvel’s Avengers is available now.

So what do you think? Was the game worth the wait? Did Square Enix drop the ball here? Join in on the conversation over on Facebook or Twitter.