One of the things that irked fans the most about Marvel’s Avengers is when developers added what was perceived to be pay-to-win transactions in the game.
These microtransactions, called Hero’s Catalysts and Fragment Extractors, essentially allowed players to boost XP and gain in-game currency through real money, something that is universally frowned upon in the gaming community.
The developer added the boosters in September, even after saying pre-launch that they were “committed that content purchasable with real money in Marvel’s Avengers will be aesthetic-only additions, which will ensure we can keep the game fresh for years to come.”
The backlash was swift, and now the devs are doing a 180 and taking them back.
Players will still be able to use real money to buy things like cosmetics, which don’t affect the gameplay itself. There are also a number of new characters in the game, and there’s no guarantee that the developers won’t put those behind a paywall.
Marvel’s Avengers was released in August 2020 and given average reviews. For the most part, people like the game but some reviewers called it repetitive and grind-y. In September, the game was released on Xbox Game Pass.
It’s available on both next gen and current gen systems. An expansion called Marvel’s Avengers Expansion: Black Panther – War for Wakanda was released in August.
Publisher Square Enix also handles a different Marvel franchise: Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, released on October 26. So far, there hasn’t been any paid content for experience in that game.