Reversing the negative rumor around Crystal Dynamics’s Avengers game is like spinning an aircraft carrier, and Square Enix turns out to be doing everything it can to turn the wheel in the direction.
Avengers has been plagued by a number of advertising campaigns, no doubt evolved through Square Enix, that have gone from hateful to completely destructive to the game.
The first and only vital of these is that Square Enix has reached an official agreement with PlayStation where Spider-Man will only present itself as a hero for this platform. And some of that has to do with Sony’s rights (the deal is necessarily for Sony to get Spider-Man or no one else), the deal goes far beyond that. Sony players will have exclusive time-only access to new characters’ cosmetic masks when released, for example.
Sony already has the first access to the beta version, which I think has bothered the narrative and deserves to be simple for “actually, the Avengers play better than it looks” because very few people revel in it this weekend (the beta edition will arrive on PS4, reserves only for Xbox and PC next time , then even though everything will be open to everyone afterwards). Limiting beta to pre-orders (boring) and turning it into an exclusive platform on the first weekend (double boredom) is a very bad concept for a game that wants all the positive enthusiasm you can get right now.
But the list is long. There are normal pre-order cosmetic bonuses, there are other offers with lots of other brands that I’ve noticed that YouTuber SkillUp started compiling. In fact, I loved the Fortnite/Avengers crossing a little bit that gave players a Selection of the Hulk to deal with the demanding situations of the beta version, but the rest looks more like a corporate BS date.
There are a number of Verizon-themed masks (at least in terms of colors, see the main image in this article) for consumers of this phone service. There is an agreement with Wrigley and Virgin Media gum, I still don’t know exactly what the costs are.
Make no mistake, such donations are not exclusive to the Avengers, and other games have had and will. But there are many of those agreements, and some, like Sony’s, are actively damaging the game in the eyes of potential players. And then, every time a new one (Verizon masks! ) appears, it seems that this game thinks it will be the next big mega hit in the Avengers call alone without even showing it. And it has some top bars to suit other superhero games like Arkham or Spider-Man, which are among the most productive action titles in the industry.
In the month before launch, players have the beta in their hands and the game narrative is “actually quite fun”, at least for most people. We see more War Table videos and wonderful previews. The last Avengers trailer I saw? A Sony one called “PlayStation Advantage”.
Sigh.
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