Marvel’s Avengers has been at the center of something of a controversy of late, what with it having been confirmed that Spider-Man will be a playable character exclusively in the PS4 and PS5 versions of the game when he is added to the game next year, with all other platforms being locked out of possibly the most popular character in the roster. And while that’s down to the fact that Sony holds the exclusive license for the Spider-Man property in both films and games, publisher Square Enix and developer Crystal Dynamics have been catching a lot of flak for this decision.
What exactly is Crystal Dynamics’ response to those who will be playing their upcoming game on Xbox or PC and won’t be able to get access to Spider-Man, however? Well, it certainly won’t do them any favours amidst all this furor, that’s for sure. When asked about the same, Crystal Dynamics studio head Scot Amos told IGN Japan said that there’s plenty more characters in the game for players on other platforms to enjoy, before adding that if Xbox and PC players want to play as Spider-Man, they have the option to do so… on PlayStation.
“I would say that Marvel’s Avengers has a lot of heroes, and with the scope and the breadth of this game and this universe, players are going to have their hands full with a lot to play with,” Amos said. “And as we have just announced with Hawkeye, there are more heroes to come. So this is an opportunity to celebrate (Spider-Man’s addition) uniquely for those players (on PlayStation) because of that relationship, but I think there’s so much of a world for people to explore, I wouldn’t look as that as a reason not to embrace it (the opportunity to add Spider-Man on PS4 and PS5). I would say, look at all this stuff you get to play with.
“And for those players who absolutely want to play as Spider-Man, you have the option to do so on PlayStation.”
‘If you want to play as Spider-Man, get a PlayStation’ doesn’t seem like a response that will smooth things over, if I’m being perfectly honest. You do have to feel for the developers working on the game, since a character being exclusive to a platform due to licensing isn’t something they have any control over, but I doubt responses such as the one given by Amos will help matters.
Crystal Dynamics have confirmed that Spider-Man will be the only platform-exclusive character in Marvel’s Avengers. Meanwhile, it’s also been confirmed that the PS4 and PS5 versions of the game will also have timed exclusive cosmetic content. The first post-launch character that will be added to the game has been confirmed as Hawkeye, and he most certainly isn’t exclusive to any platform.
Marvel’s Avengers launches on September 4 for the PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia, and will be arriving on PS5 and Xbox Series X later in the year, with free next-gen upgrades supported on both. We recently spent several hours with the game thanks to beta early access- you can read our impressions through here.