Marvel's Avengers Eyes More DLC To Improve Poor Sales

Marvel’s Avengers released on September 4 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Since then, players have yearned for patches to fix bugs and DLC updates for more content.

Crystal Dynamics, the game’s developer, recently detailed the first DLC character, Kate Bishop, in a War Table Deep Dive video . Her update, which is free for all users, releases on December 8.

NEWS

In a recent financial briefing , Square Enix, the publisher of Marvel’s Avengers , announced an operating loss of around ¥7 billion, which is about $67 million USD, for its HD Games segment.

Square Enix’s President and Representative Director Yosuke Matsuda said he hopes DLC for the game will help Square Enix recoup its loss.

He said:

The HD Games sub-segment posted an operating loss as initial sales of 'Marvel’s Avengers' were lower than we had expected and unable to completely offset the amortization of the game’s development costs. In the second half of the fiscal year (“2H”), we hope to make up for slow initial sales by offering ample additional content to grow our sales.

When asked whether the HD Games segment would have been profitable this quarter if the game met expectations, Matsuda replied:

Absent factors associated with 'Marvel’s Avengers,' the sub-segment would have been in the black. In addition to the amortization of that game’s development costs, another significant factor associated with the title was the fact that we undertook a major advertising campaign at the time of its launch to make up for delays in our marketing efforts resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a certain amount of development costs still to be amortized in 3Q, but we want to recoup it by growing our sales going forward.

Looking ahead, Matsuda hopes to increase sales through DLC, saying, “Our intention is first and foremost to work to expand sales in order to improve its profitability.”

WHAT THIS MEANS

DLC will likely be a major factor in increasing sales and the game’s player base. The PC player base for Marvel’s Avengers has dramatically shrunk since launch. Though there are no confirmed numbers for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One audience, it’s likely that those player bases have also waned in the past month. DLC is an opportunity to drive continued interest in the game at various points after its launch. Incremental releases could have the potential to get players back in and invite new players into the ecosystem.

Marvel’s Avengers operates as a games-as-a-service, so fans can hopefully expect more content to flesh out the game. Many fans have compared the game to Anthem , Bioware’s games-as-a-service experience that largely floundered due to poor support. With Matsuda’s quote, however, it seems that Square Enix is poised to generate as much sales as possible for the game to make up for its loss.

A game with the title Marvel’s Avengers will likely have continued support given the popularity of the heroes and universe associated with the game. As of now, however, it’s unclear whether Marvel’s Avengers will turn out like Anthem or No Man’s Sky , which completely reversed course after a shaky launch to a game with continued support in the form of huge free upgrades.