Despite Square Enix’s continued support for its Marvel’s Avengers game, the Japanese publisher has had less than positive things to say about it as a whole. Marred by controversy since prior to the game’s release, things have now progressed to a point where Square Enix considers Marvel’s Avengers to be a “disappointing” project for the company.

In a recently released annual report (H/T Comicbook), Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda spoke about Marvel’s Avengers and its overall performance since its release last year. Matsuda acknowledges that the previous fiscal year wasn’t an easy one for video game releases due to COVID-19, though he says that despite this the game wasn’t as successful as was expected. “We overcame a variety of unexpected difficulties in the final phase of the game’s development, including needing to transition to work-from-home due to the pandemic,” Matsuda said.

We were able to surmount these challenges and release the game, but it has unfortunately not proven as successful as we would have liked.”

Matsuda goes on to explain that some of the title’s Games as a Service’ elements didn’t do it any favors, suggesting that going forward studios will need to be more cautious about when to implement them, taking into consideration each team’s preferences and strong points. “Nonetheless, 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,” he explained.

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.”

It deserves mentioning that Matsuda’s views on the Marvel’s Avengers game relate back to the previous year. Fans of the game have more recently gotten onboard with the Black Panther content and the PlayStation exclusive Spider-Man DLC, so there’s every possibility that the title is in a better place now than it was months after its initial launch. Regardless, all eyes are now on Guardians of the Galaxy, which has thus far been significantly more well-received.

Square Enix’s Marvel’s Avengers game is now available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.

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