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Marvel's Avengers rules out cross-platform play for now

If you're hoping Marvel's Avengers will latch onto the recent trend of cross-platform play, you may be disappointed, at least for now.

Ozzie Mejia

June 25, 2020 5:15 PM

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Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics are feeling ambitious with its upcoming Marvel's Avengers game. It's a game that will span more than one console generation and come to a multitude of platforms. So it's worth asking, will Crystal Dynamics look into the idea of cross-platform play?

Shacknews recently had the opportunity to pitch that question to Marvel's Avengers Creative Director Shaun Escayg. Citing the recent movement from publisher Electronic Arts to institute cross-platform play into some of its upcoming blockbusters, as well Epic Games pushing its crossplay online services to more developers, it was worth asking whether Marvel's Avengers would likewise make the move to allow players on different platforms to play with one another.

"We love the idea of cross-platform play," Escayg told Shacknews. "It's not something that we are currently doing. Our launch is going to be as it is. We are doing cross-generational play. PS4 players will play with PS5 players, because we do have an upgrade pass. Jumping in day one on PS4, when you upgrade to your PS5, same with your Xbox One to your Xbox X, the idea that you can take your saved game and your progression with you. But we want to at least have within that ecosystem, PS4 to PS5 can connect for co-op and Xbox One to Xbox X can connect for co-op. Cross-generational, yes. Cross-platform, not at this time."

The upgrade pass is in reference to the recent PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X versions of Marvel's Avengers that were announced earlier this week. Anybody who picks up a current-generation console version of the game on day one will be able to upgrade to that console's next-gen counterpart. But if you make the upgrade while a friend does not, at least you'll still be able to play together.

While cross-platform play has been ruled out for now, Crystal Dynamics appears adamant that Marvel's Avengers post-launch content will go far beyond the game's initial release date. Will the cross-platform stance change? There appears to be plenty of time for Square and Crystal Dynamics to do so. The Crystal Dynamics team has noted that there will be more War Table streams coming soon, including further details on post-launch content. Shacknews will be sure to watch out for those and we'll be sure to report on any news that comes out of them. Marvel's Avengers will release on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Google Stadia on September 4. It's also coming to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X whenever those consoles release.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?