Way back in 2017, Square Enix revealed a potentially exciting new Marvel game that was only referred to as The Avengers Project. It was a collaboration between Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics and Deus Ex: Human Revolution developer Eidos Montreal, who also worked together on last year’s Shadow of the Tomb Raider. We haven’t heard much about the game since, but now Square Enix is finally ready to show the game at E3 next month, and it seemingly has the proper new (but simple) name of Marvel’s Avengers, presumably to go with last year’s Marvel’s Spider-Man on PS4.
The announcement of the E3 reveal of the game came via the official The Avengers Twitter account. The first look at the long-anticipated game will occur at the publisher’s Square Enix Live press conference/show on June 10 at 18:00 PT/21:00 ET/02:00 June 11 BST. It’s also entirely possible that, with Microsoft’s press conference the day before on June 9, Marvel’s Avengers will be at the Xbox show as well as Square Enix’s own. At last year’s E3 2018, many Square Enix games such as Just Cause 4 were actually announced at either Sony or Microsoft’s conference first, prior to the Square Enix Live show. With the absence of Sony at this year’s E3, Xbox will be the one to watch for anything like that.
Tune into Square Enix Live E3 2019 for the worldwide reveal of "Marvel’s Avengers"! 🗓️ The event begins June 10th at 6pm PT: https://t.co/SCYMbJYt8j #SquareEnixE3 #Reassemble #PlayAvengers pic.twitter.com/2fWM6ekUue
— Avengers (@Avengers) May 29, 2019
Shortly after the tweet, some of the first details of the how the game will actually play were leaked. The details came in the form of an image of an E3 showcase event for Marvel’s Avengers, as there will be a panel for the game on Tuesday June 11, the day after the Square Enix Live show, at 13:00 PT. The details have since been scrubbed from the E3 coliseum website, leaving it with just that it’s happening and “Join Crystal Dynamics and Marvel Games for a Panel about Marvel’s The Avengers” just in front of a panel on the next Call of Duty, now revealed as Modern Warfare.
However, as it was a leak about an eagerly anticipated game on the internet, of course the internet grabbed hold of it wouldn’t let go. You can see the full details below, but it basically gives the first confirmed description of what this highly sought-after Avengers game will play like, including calling it “the defining Avengers gaming experience.” It also says that the game is an “epic” action-adventure featuring “cinematic storytelling”, which suggests that it’s third-person (which is expected, especially considering it’s coming from Crystal Dynamics) with cutscenes.
More news on ‘Marvels Avengers’ taken from E3 Showcase. [IMAGE] from r/PS4
The game will apparently be a mix of single-player and co-op, or as the leak puts it, “continuous single-player and co-operative gameplay.” Fans on Reddit have already noticed the word “continuous” in there, which strongly suggests that the game may feature a persistent open-world in the style of a live-service game like Destiny 2 or The Division. Funnily enough, this is exactly the same type of game that Batman Arkham Knight creators Rocksteady are rumored to be making.
In Marvel’s Avengers, players will apparently be able to join up in teams of up to four, which if it’s not a live-service game sounds a lot like Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3, which is out in July exclusively on Nintendo Switch. This is further heightened by the apparent ability for players to combine powers, which is big part of the co-op action in later Ultimate Alliance games. The panel description also mentions that players will be able to customize their heroes somehow, “to fit your playstyle.” This could possibly suggest that players will be creating brand new heroes, rather than controlling the more popular Avengers such as Captain America, Iron Man, or Dr. Druid.
Beyond the name (and even that’s not completely confirmed, some places add a “the” in the title, and it may still get a subtitle) we don’t really know much about Marvel’s Avengers, despite it being announced two years ago. It’s the second collaborative development between Eidos Montreal and Crystal Dynamics, who last worked together on 2018’s Shadow of the Tomb Raider. It’s been suggested to have third-person combat, and may even have live-service elements. With Avengers Endgame the hottest movie around right now, Square Enix has picked the perfect moment to properly show Marvel’s Avengers to the world. Hopefully it will be worth the long wait.
