Marvel’s Avengers has not been a major success for the publisher, but curiously, the superhero MMO is currently appearing in the top 5 most played games via PlayStation Now. How can that be?
What is PlayStation Now all about? PlayStation Now is a subscription service from Sony that allows users to download selected games for free each month and in some cases even stream them directly without downloading. Additionally, the streaming service also works on PC, providing access to some titles that would otherwise be exclusive to PlayStation.
In June 2021, several top titles are included in the subscription, and the top 5 on PC is as follows:
- Bloodborne
- Horizon Zero Dawn
- The Last of Us
- Marvel’s Avengers
- Detroit: Become Human
Why is Avengers among all the exclusives?
What’s so curious about this selection? Four of these games are ones that have only been released for PlayStation consoles (Bloodborne and The Last of Us) or have only received a port to PC after a long time (Horizon and Detroit). Therefore, it’s not surprising that PC players took the opportunity to excessively stream gems like Bloodborne or Horizon Zero Dawn in June.
However, one game stands out completely, as Marvel’s Avengers differs in several ways from the other four titles:
- The game was never exclusive to PlayStation; it has always been a multi-platform title.
- The game is actually a multiplayer title, while the other games all focus on single-player gameplay.
- Avengers received rather poor ratings and was a disappointment for the publisher. While games like Bloodborne or The Last of Us impress with MetaCritic scores of 92 and 95 respectively, Marvel’s Avengers limps along with a score of 67.
Even on Steam, the reviews are only 66 percent positive, and an average of just about 560 players are playing the game simultaneously.
Why is Avengers still so popular on PlayStation Now? Under a tweet about the top 5 PS Now games on PC, several players are indeed wondering why the allegedly underperforming Avengers is so prominent.
The answer seems to lie in the reasons why Avengers became such a flop. When the game was initially released, many players and critics praised the great Marvel story, which did not rely on the already widely told MCU but rather told a brand new Marvel story.
This was partly due to the cool missions that slowly introduced players to the story and the characters, featuring the wonderfully nerdy protagonist Kamala Khan, a lovable heroine, who stood out wonderfully from the old superheroes.
Therefore, those who only played the story definitely had a lot of fun with Avengers. Only after the end of the campaign did the enjoyment of the game decline, as the endgame offered little more than repetitive missions on an assembly line and occasional story expansions like the one for Hawkeye.
The reviews on Steam confirm this, as the story is particularly praised while the endgame is harshly criticized:
- Scorpionking1172: “I have only played the campaign so far and I really had fun. The voice acting, the story, and the gameplay are quite good in my opinion. I know, however, that this game receives a lot of hate from what I’ve heard about the endgame and multiplayer.”
- ObiBenBinomi: “Admittedly, I have 53 hours clocked on this game. Initially, I had a lot of fun. The story is enjoyable, the dialogues are very reminiscent of the films, and eventually, the different appearance [of the heroes] along with the strange voices no longer bother me. Yes, I really had fun in the single-player campaign. I’m slowly getting to know the Avengers, the quotes are cool, and the rebuilding of the Helicarrier is nice. […]”
- DonutBigMAc: “More good story and combat system, but not worth the full price …”
Time and again, it is heard that Avengers is a lot of fun, especially at the beginning of the story campaign, and that it should definitely be experienced. Only the rest of the game is exceedingly boring and not worth the money. Therefore, many players have likely taken the subscription at PS Now and streamed the game without much effort, enjoying the enjoyable campaign and spending a few hours in the multiplayer endgame.
However, this does not change the fact that Marvel’s Avengers is still not a hit, but at least it comforts MeinMMO author Jürgen Horn, whose superpower is destroying games he loves. Avengers is also on that list!
