The Avengers game in development by award-winning development studio Crystal Dynamics might be targeting the next generation of consoles. A job listing posted by the studio indicated that a project involving "external partners" is targeting the future of the console market rather than its present, fueling speculation that The Avengers game won't be released anytime soon.

Not much is known about The Avengers game, which was announced over two years ago and has been conspicuous in its absence ever since. Most of what fans have to go on comes from previous Crystal Dynamics job listings, which have suggested that the company is prioritizing "cutting-edge online experiences" with a focus on social design. That has led many to believe that the game will be similar to Destiny or the more recent Anthem. The latter seems like an especially apt comparison given that the studio also hired former Dead Space and Uncharted developers to work on the title, which implies a strong focus on single-player modes and narratives as well as the aforementioned multiplayer.

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The job posting is looking for an External Lead Producer, someone capable of "working with external partners to build high-quality console and PC games." Interestingly enough, that's a change from what it looked like the past few days, where it described the building of "next-gen console" games instead. That Crystal Dynamics has changed the job listing's description is an interesting wrinkle in the story, which could go either way: is the developer looking to quash rumors about next-gen plans, or was it simply a mistake in the wording that has been blown out of proportion?

For now, we don't know, but the implication seems to be that The Avengers game will be arriving on the next generation of consoles after the PS4 and Xbox One. There's a chance that the game could be developed as a cross-generational title as well, although that seems less likely - the lifespans of the PS4 and Xbox One seem to be running out, and The Avengers doesn't seem to be on track for a release in the next year or two. Given the circumstances, it does seem more plausible that The Avengers will wait until the next generation of Sony and Microsoft machines arrive.

Part of the reason people are so interested in the story of The Avengers game's release platforms is that it's one of the only scraps of news fans have had about the game since it was announced. Outside of other job listing analysis, Square Enix and Marvel have both been remarkably quiet about the game's progress. Until they learn more, fans of The Avengers will probably continue to latch onto anything they can, if only to convince themselves that it's a real project in development rather than a figment of their imaginations.

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Source: Crystal Dynamics (We Got This Covered for original listing)