‘Marvel’s Avengers’ Skins Won’t Be Locked To Virgin Media Internet Customers

While I've never been someone who needs to collect everything in a game, tick every box and uncover every collectible, I know a lot of you out there are. So when I see news emerge that special outfits for iconic superheroes are going to be - checks notes - reserved exclusively for customers of a certain internet provider, that rather raises my hackles.

Marvel's Avengers is having a bit of a mixed preview period. We've played the game, and it's pretty darn good, actually. But having been hit by a delay already, and its character models not exactly aligning with some expectations after the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, no doubt enthusiasm for Square Enix's AAA superhero offering has wavered a little. And then came the Spider-Man thing. That stung, NGL.

However, the skins that customers of Virgin Media can unlock when Marvel's Avengers releases on September 4th will not be forever locked away from everyone else. We've heard that the exclusivity period for these appropriately coloured skins - applicable to all six main playable characters in the game, and on show below - will last for 90 days, after which time they can be unlocked through play.

Stands to reason that US players - where Verizon is running a similar scheme - will also be able to get those skins once the exclusivity lifts, be that the same 90 days or otherwise. It's not clear, however, if one territory's internet provider-themed skins will be available in the other. So perhaps that's going to be a whole new cause of anxiety for the collectors and hundred-percenters out there.

Square Enix, Marvel, Virgin Media

For those that like to know such things, these costumes all have names. Hulk's is the Ascendancy Outfit; Black Widow wears her Lucent Shadow Outfit; Captain America is decked out in a Burning Might Outfit; Iron Man in Jet Stream Armour; Ms Marvel's wearing an Event Horizon Outfit; and Thor his Light Breaker get-up. With none of those bearing any sign of the partner's name, I can't see any problem with them rolling out pretty naturally to all players as regular unlockables.

In addition to these partnered outfits, Intel customers are also getting some timed exclusive threads, including a retro-themed one for Thor; and certain perks and rewards will be unlocked by buying packs of 5 chewing gum, which is again US-only, I think. Remember when video games just came out?

A fresh beta for Marvel's Avengers kicks off this weekend, running from Friday 14th August to Sunday 16th. As a partner of the game in the UK, Virgin Media is offering thousands of its customers access - and this is how Xbox One and PC players can get involved without an existing pre-order (PlayStation 4 players can jump freely into this one). If you're one of those customers, have yourself a gander this way. The beta will include some single-player content and offer the chance to participate in co-op 'War Zone' missions. (No, not that one.)

Topics: Xbox, Marvel's Avengers, PlayStation, PC, Marvel, Square Enix