In the action MMO Marvel Heroes, the servers were permanently shut down on Monday. Angry players remain, especially on PlayStation 4. They want their money back, after all, Marvel Heroes only launched on PlayStation 4 half a year ago.
It’s a story with many “actuallys”:
- Actually, Marvel Heroes was a flop at release, a dull Diablo clone that offered little variety
- Actually, Marvel Heroes then underwent a wonderful development – the team invested a lot of work and passion into the title, making it better month by month until it became a really great game. With new Marvel movies in theaters, players also came to the action brawler
- Actually, everything was fine until the heart of the studio, David Brevik, left his baby in early 2016 to design more and manage less
- Actually, everything still looked good, Marvel Heroes was supposed to be released on PS4 and Xbox One, reaching a new level
Marvel Heroes Omega truly marked the end
But from there, everything fell apart.
Marvel Heroes did not simply bring the PC game to PS4 and Xbox One, but developed a stripped-down version “Marvel Heroes Omega” for the consoles. In the following period, the team mainly took care of the console version, while the PC version was neglected. The base of PC players dwindled. Later, developer Gazillion wanted to merge both versions, but that never happened.
Disney pulled the plug, took the Marvel license from Gazillion, which then had to shut down.
The plan was to let the game end orderly by the year’s end. But the banks did not allow that, demanding immediate closure, leading to a chaotic retreat. The servers were supposed to be shut down on Friday but stayed online for a grace period over the Thanksgiving weekend. However, on Monday, the 27th of November, the lights finally went out for Marvel Heroes. The servers on PS4, Xbox One and PC closed.
Under the farewell tweet, however, there is no nostalgic mood, rather many players are angry. The soft launch on PS4 was only 6 months ago in May 2017.
Fans thought the game would last 5 years, buying boosters, heroes, packs, and costumes.
Now the people want their money back that they invested in Marvel Heroes. They feel deceived and betrayed: one expects that a game lasts longer than just a few months when money is spent on it.
Players on PlayStation 4 hope for Sony to get their money back
The situation varies from platform to platform:
- PC players have already written off their money.
- But on Xbox One, the pressure from fans has apparently led Microsoft to relent, allowing Xbox players to receive refunds. According to forum reports on reddit, Microsoft has set up “automatic refunds”.
- Sony has not followed the competitor’s example so far, and PS4 players are frustrated because nothing is happening. With the end of Gazillion, Sony seems to be the only hope, but they would need to show goodwill and enable refunds. Currently, it doesn’t look like it, as Sony claims the Terms of Service – the items have already been used in-game, so there is no possibility of refund.
Undignified exit for Marvel Heroes
Under the anger of the fans, the legacy of Marvel Heroes is in danger of sinking. An undignified exit for a title that just a few years ago was regarded as a prime example of an online game that developed well.
The real victims are the developers of Marvel Heroes. The sudden closure of the studio left them unemployed just before Thanksgiving, without any transition solution. Their health insurance also runs out at the end of November. One tweeted: “People want their money back that they spent on boosts. I wonder how I will pay for my insulin.”
More on the topic:
Marvel Heroes is giving everything away for free, but players want their money back
