Marvel's Avengers may not have had the post-launch success that it had originally planned. That doesn't mean that Crystal Dynamics isn't still working hard on the game. The Hawkeye update release date was confirmed a week ago, in one recent example. And now an even bigger addition is being detailed. Square Enix is ready to share what Crystal Dynamics has put together for Marvel's Avengers' next-gen update. The PS5 and Xbox Series X/S upgrades will be available starting March 18.
Square Enix's detailing of the Marvel's Avengers next-gen updates comes in the form of handy charts. The charts compare the current Marvel's Avengers game running on next-gen hardware to the full next-gen update. The charts list various things that the games share across platforms, like cross-gen matchmaking and cross-gen save file importing, as well as key differences. One funny example is that "Faster Load Times" is listed for pre-patch Marvel's Avengers, while "Significantly Faster Load Times" is listed for post-patch.
As for the listed improvements coming to both PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, there are quite a few. The chart references the update offering higher resolution textures, improved heroics and armor destruction, stochastic screen-space reflections, contact-aware sharpening, higher-resolution translucency, improved ambient occlusion, and improved texturing. Suffice to say, there is a diverse range of visual improvements coming with the next-gen updates.
But there are also some notable differences between the PS5's improvements and the Xbox Series X/S improvements. Two less notable differences are that the PS5 will receive spatial audio and haptic feedback in the update, features the Xbox Series X/S don't support. More notable is that the PS5 will apparently receive both a high-performance mode and a 4K mode, while the Xbox Series X/S will get a single resolution-focused mode. The key difference being that the PS5-exclusive mode offers 60FPS with a lower resolution, an option Xbox gamers won't have.
Regardless of the differences between the two platforms, both the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S updates for Marvel's Avengers sound like welcome offerings. Those still playing Marvel's Avengers on next-gen systems will have no reason not to take advantage of the free gift from Crystal Dynamics.
The one looming negative of the situation is the question regarding how much support Square Enix plans to offer for Marvel's Avengers. Given live service games' tendency to cancel plans for post-launch support in recent years, many Marvel's Avengers fans are likely wary. After all, much of Marvel's Avengers post-launch plans have already been significantly delayed. Hopefully, Square Enix will clarify the situation going forward following the March 18 next-gen update's release.
Marvel's Avengers is available now on PC, PS4, PS4, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
