Marvel's Avengers has hit the top of the UK's physical retail charts this week, following its release over the weekend. The game launched to mixed reviews; critics, including Screen Rant's own, praised the game's single-player campaign but were let down by the multiplayer content, which seems to be where developer Crystal Dynamics focused most of its efforts.
Square Enix marketed Marvel's Avengers heavily in the months leading up to its release. Throughout development, the game was rocked by PR controversy after controversy, beginning with the first official announcement of the game last year. Fans mercilessly derided the unappealing character models that they were shown. Crystal Dynamics worked hard to redeem these models, but that was far from the only problem Marvel's Avengers faced before launch. The news that Spider-Man was coming to the game as a DLC character exclusive to PlayStation consoles sparked even more outrage.
But despite all these obstacles, the game has seen much success. As GamesIndustry.biz reports, Marvel's Avengers is the best-selling physical game in the UK during its launch week. The superhero brawler beat out Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2, the long-awaited remaster of the classic skating franchise, which released the same day as Marvel's Avengers and took the number two slot. Coming in at number three is NBA 2K21, which is down 37 percent from the sales of NBA 2K20 after its launch. GamesIndustry.biz compared Marvel's Avengers' success to the PS4's Spider-Man, a legendary superhero game from 2018 that's been credited with revitalizing the genre. Even though it's topped the charts, Marvel's Avengers has sold less than a third of what Spider-Man sold on its opening week back in 2018. It should be noted, of course, that this is based on physical sales in the UK alone.
It looks like Square Enix's aggressive marketing campaign is working. The promise of dedicated post-launch support for the game, such as the announcement that Kate Bishop will appear in October as a DLC character with her own set of story missions, probably helped drive sales. Of course, with the titular Avengers serving as one of the most prominent facets of modern cinema, the game has a lot of mainstream popularity to coast on as well.
Just about every reviewer agrees that Marvel's Avengers is far from perfect. The game will probably need that promised post-launch support to stay on its own two feet in the coming months. But as GamesIndustry.biz's figures indicate, it is off to an excellent start. There's a lot to enjoy about a game like Marvel's Avengers and hopefully that will still be true a long time from now.
Marvel's Avengers is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Google Stadia, and PC.
Source: GamesIndustry.biz