Marvel’s Avengers: Square Enix Removes Paid XP Boosts After One Month Following Player Backlash

Paid XP boosts will be removed from Marvel’s Avengers today following backlash from the player community, less than a month after they were first introduced.

Before the launch of Marvel’s Avengers, Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics released a Blog Post in August 2020 that stated: “content purchasable with real money in Marvel’s Avengers will be aesthetic-only additions.” Then, around the start of last month, XP bonuses for the Avengers were introduced quietly to their marketplaceAs expected, the players weren’t happy as reported at first by Video Games Chronicle

It seems the development team behind Avengers heard the message loud and clear because it announced today that Hero’s Catalysts and Fragment Extractors – both of which are essentially paid XP boosts for use in-game – would be removed from the marketplace by the end of today.

“We apologize for not responding sooner to your concerns about the addition of paid consumables in the Marketplace. We introduced them as an option for an evolving player base, and did not see them as pay-to-win since they don’t offer power directly. After considering your feedback, we have decided that by the end of today, we will remove Hero’s Catalysts and Fragment Extractors for purchase. These will still be available as earnable rewards, and the ones you already own are still valid.

This is our first step to rebuilding trust in you as an individual and team. We will continue to strive to create the best possible game. Thank you for being a part of the Marvel’s Avengers community.”

As noted in the statement above, the XP boosts didn’t actually change the levels of playable Avengers in-game. Instead they increased experience intake while players played. So while players weren’t outright buying levels in-game, they were able to use real-world money to get a leg up on leveling up an Avenger

For more about Marvel’s Avengers, check out our thoughts by reading Game Informer’s Marvel’s Avengers review. You can also tHow hens read Spider-Man will be joining the roster before the year’s endCheck out the. Check out the complete roster. Game Informer’sBreakdown of every playable character in Marvel’s AvengersAfter that.