Ouch! Square Enix boss Yosuke Matsuda has insinuated that Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics may have been the wrong studio for Marvel’s Avengers. Speaking as part of an alarmingly candid annual performance report, via VGC, the executive assured shareholders that the publisher had learned from the “disappointing” superhero release, and suggested that it will better match “game designs” with developers moving forwards.
Crystal Dynamics, of course, is perhaps best known for its brand of Naughty Dog-style action-adventure games, but Marvel’s Avengers represented its first foray into the divisive Games as a Service scene. “Taking on the GaaS model highlighted issues that we are likely to face in future game development efforts such as the need to select game designs that mesh with the unique attributes and tastes of our studios and development teams,” Matsuda said.
He continued: “While the new challenge that we tackled with this title produced a disappointing outcome, we are certain that the GaaS approach will grow in importance as gaming becomes more service oriented. How we go about creating new experiences by incorporating this trend into our game design is a key question that we will need to answer going forward.” Man, that’s got to be difficult reading for the Crystal Dynamics team.
The latest Marvel’s Avengers saga saw the developer add XP boosting microtransactions to the title’s in-game store, which have since been removed. Crystal Dynamics still has content promised for the title, including Sony’s controversial console exclusive Spider-Man add-on, which is due out later in the year. Meanwhile, the Californian developer has been tapped up by Microsoft to assist development on its new Perfect Dark title.
