Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics’ The Avengers Project is beginning to take shape and production is gaining significant momentum.
Following news that that Californian studio had hired 15 “top industry talents” to help development on their much anticipated release (including veteran ex-Naughty Dog and Visceral Games staff, no less), details of the actual game were pretty scarce. Thankfully, some new information has now surfaced and it’s definitely got us excited.
From what we understand, The Avengers Project will bring with it a “new and original” narrative that’ll be “jammed pack” with characters and environments, as well as iconic and thrilling moments in “a universe gamers can play in for years to come.” Not only that, but it also sounds like it’ll be opting for more of an online multiplayer-focused experience à la Destiny, as opposed to a single player-focused campaign. Essentially, it’ll be less like Uncharted, and more like an MMO title, with a continual stream of DLC and events to help keep fans engaged.
“We’re committed to delivering an incredible, completely original Avengers experience to our gamers, and that means we are always looking to add amazing developers to our existing best in class studio talent,” said Scot Amos, Co-Head of Studio at Crystal Dynamics. “As development progresses, our studio continues to grow. The tremendous progress we’ve made on The Avengers Project further drives us toward our goal of crafting something all Marvel fans will be proud of, and will play for years to come. We can’t wait to show you what we mean in the future.”
Often referred to as the ‘games as service’ model, this new MMO-esque strategy seems to be proving rather popular amongst publishers, as it often guarantees a more reliable revenue stream compared to their single player counterparts. That being said, some people are growing wearisome of it.
Destiny 2, for example, has suffered a significant drop in its player base since launch, with many highlighting the title’s lack of endgame content and poor loot and progression systems as major issues. Battlefront II – another games as service title – also suffered considerable fan backlash for similar problems.
Nevertheless, we’ve still got our fingers firmly crossed for The Avengers Project. Most of the time, comic book to video game adaptations are rushed to release with little consideration for the final product. However, this one’s shaping up to be super promising and we can’t wait to get our mitts on it.