Marvel’s Avengers has not turned a profit yet, according to Square Enix. Their supposed AAA hero game is down so challenging it hasn’t even recovered its cost.
Marvel’s Avengers doesn’t seem to be the superpowered story that Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics thought it was. The game, heavily marketed from the get-go, is having an issue earning money. It’s so bad that it hasn’t broken even yet.
Avengers lost Square Enix seven billion yen
Following Square’s quarterly financials, a dreary answer from the investor Q&A came through. According to a translated document, company president Yosuke Matsuda details how the company lost seven billion yen.
The seven billion loss comes from operational expenses between April to September. This was the release window for their Avengers game, which heavily flopped.
The money translates to around $67.09 million, which is astronomical in the video games industry. Crystal Dynamics, the game’s dev team, has not even recouped its production cost yet.
“Absent factors associated with ‘Marvel’s Avengers,’ the sub-segment would have been in the black,” Matsuda answered. “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.”
The answer suggests that if not for Avengers, Square Enix would likely have turned a profit. It would probably have, considering their successful titles outside their AAA disaster.
Square Enix heavily optimistic about the game’s future
So far, Square Enix is still trying to be optimistic about Marvel’s Avengers. Their investors are starting to worry, throwing in a few hostile questions towards Matsuda. The company president was quick to assure they have details planned.
“We engaged in ample preparations ahead of the launch, but it is true that there were aspects in which we were wanting,” said Matsuda. “We intend to leverage the lessons we learned from this experience in future game development efforts.”
Matsuda is looking to create more robust sales in the upcoming third fiscal quarter for the company. They believe there’s still hope for Avengers, which could be bald-faced optimism.
Avengers by itself is not a bad game, but it is infinitely boring when played as a live service game. The interactability is not there, and the lofty-goal of staying as a service title means it needs more.
There aren’t many things to do in Marvel’s Avengers, even with the addition of Kate Bishop as DLC next year. The game needs more content and a lasting reason for players to stay beyond playing as their heroes.
Featured image courtesy of Square Enix/Youtube Screenshot