Spider-Man Content Delayed In Yet Another Blow to Marvel’s Avengers

The news came courtesy of some hawk-eyed fans who noticed that Spider-Man was not part of the roadmap for Marvel’s Avengers that was released yesterday. IGN got on the story and asked Crystal Dynamics studio head, Scot Amos, why Spider-Man was missing from the roadmap.

“I can tell you that, formally, officially, people are working on him right now,” Amos replied. “So it is still on our roadmap for the future.” Spider-Man’s addition to the game was first announced in August of last year, to much ire, as a PlayStation exclusive. According to IGN, Amos made it clear that Spider-Man would not be added to the game before Black Panther—meaning Spider-Man likely won’t be seen in the game until sometime this fall. However, it sounds as though Spider-Man will still be a PlayStation exclusive. “…We still fully expect Spider-Man to come to PlayStation,” Amos said.

Marvel’s Avengers has not been a successful release by most metrics. There were multiple bugs in the game, making it unplayable for some people. Additionally, it was reported that the game resulted in a 63 million dollar loss for publisher Square Enix. Since its release, developer Crystal Dynamics has been working to patch bugs and provide more content. In a blog post explaining the new road map, Crystal Dynamics had this to say, “Our focus moving forward is to deliver new content that is compelling to play and replay again while offering better rewards. We are expanding upon what the Avengers Initiative currently has to offer to provide more choices for players when they hop in-game and have completed all the Operations.”

The studio made it clear, however, that the roadmap itself could change at any time. “We do want to mention that this roadmap could potentially change depending on the ever-changing world of game development, but we also feel confident about what we have presented here and hope it also excites you.”

As far as imminent content, the Tachyon Anomaly will allow you to, for the first time, use heroes more than once—meaning that everyone in the party could play as the Hulk if they wanted to. The company promises to continue updating the player base over the coming months—as there isn’t much in the way of detailed information for events such as the Cosmic Cube at this point.

Sources: Crystal Dynamics | CBR | IGN

 

Gotham Knights Delayed For A Year – Releasing 2022

According to the game’s official Twitter account, Gotham Knights is being delayed to ensure quality upon release. The game was announced last year and was set to come out sometime in 2021. No particular reason was given for the delay, other than the studio would like to ensure that the game performs to their expectation.

“We are giving the game more time to deliver the best possible experience for players. Thank you to our amazing fans for your tremendous support of Gotham Knights. We look forward to showcasing more of the game in the coming months,” reads the tweet.

pic.twitter.com/O1U4T0gK3u

— Gotham Knights (@GothamKnights) March 19, 2021

Gotham Knights is an original story set in Gotham city. Meaning that it is not related to the Arkham series. In this version of Gotham, Batman is dead, and it is up to the “side-kicks” to save the city from some of Gotham’s most iconic villains. The game is best played in multiplayer mode with two or three other players. However, you can still play the game in single-player mode if you would prefer.

Opinion

There is little doubt that the unprecedented backlash and fallout of Cyberpunk 2077’s premature release has influenced developers across the industry. Delays have always been with us, but it seems that more and more studios are willing to delay games, regardless of how big they are. Marvel’s Avengers’ initial failure also probably factored into the studio’s decision to delay the game to ensure that it is received more warmly than Avengers was.

While Gotham Knights is not DC comics’ answer to Marvel’s Avengers, it is important to keep the long and storied rivalry in mind here. If there is an edge to be gained in a given situation, the comic book giants will take advantage of it.

We might expect to see additional functionality or world-building with anywhere from eight to 16 extra months of work on the game. Regardless, WB games have promised to continue to showcase the game—be it at E3 or another showcase event—so that it stays in your mind all the way up to launch.

Sources: GamesRadar | Twitter