Spider-Man's PlayStation Exclusivity In 'Marvel's Avengers' Angers Fans
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Featured Image Credit: Square Enix/Sony
So you've probably heard the news by now. Spider-Man will be appearing as a post-launch hero in Marvel's Avengers. The catch? You'll only be able to play as Spider-Man on PlayStation 4, leaving Xbox One and PC players with nothing but broken dreams as they watch their PS4 friends swing around as Marvel's most popular superhero.
"Vince Napoli, our lead combat designer, is hard at work making Spider-Man just as great on the sticks as he is on the page," Marvel's Avengers developer Crystal Dynamics wrote on the PlayStation Blog.
"This means making sure our hero moves and fights like he should, no matter which one of our War Zones he finds himself in. When he's arcing through the air on his web line, we want you to feel graceful and light, and be able to utilize a variety of web configurations and gadgets to enhance your traversal. Spider-Man's impressive acrobatic abilities will complement the experience, allowing you to seamlessly transition from navigation to combat."
Sounds great - for PlayStation gamers. But given just how large Spider-Man looms in the hearts of every single Marvel fan, most gamers, and probably most people on the planet, the confirmation that the webhead would be locked onto PS4 did not go down very well. Following the announcement, a number of fans took to Twitter to blast the decision as "anti-consumer".
Good Idea: Spider-Man PS4/Miles Morales costumes exclusive to PS4
- connor (@ConnorEatsPants) August 3, 2020
Bad Idea: This
I was completely on board with this game until this.
- Sin, Insurrection Prime Repairman :dragon_face: (@SinOnTwitch) August 3, 2020
I have to be honest, I'm sure the game will be fantastic.
But even as a PS4 owner, this just feels dirty. This type of exclusivity isn't good for anyone, and only hurts the consumers playing the game.
Have all three consoles, this is not a great decision. Looking characters behind a $400 paywall is not pro consumer at all
- Damian Sopher (@Trask899) August 3, 2020
This sucks guys pic.twitter.com/ZS2TguWpzy
- Vincent Adultman (@TatataToddC) August 3, 2020
as a fan of both Spider-Man and Playstation I really hate this. Marvel's mascot shouldn't be tied down to one system, I got Sony producing playstation exclusive Spider-Man games but this is just wrong.
- James S. Fallows (@Timewarp_JF) August 3, 2020
We PS4 owners aren't getting Spider-Man. Everyone else is losing him.
I don't work in marketing but I don't know that giving people a legitimate reason to be angry at a game that had a famously bad first impression and has slowly earned some of that goodwill back right before launch should make everyone rightfully upset all over again.
- Patrick Klepek (@patrickklepek) August 3, 2020
It's worth noting that there were, of course, a lot of people who are very excited to see Spider-Man come to Marvel's Avengers. Obviously, these are people who already on a PlayStation 4, but we can't begrudge their excitement - even as we acknowledge the understandable disappointment of Xbox One and PC games.
A small but particularly vocal group were also active on Twitter, celebrating not just the fact that the PS4 was getting Spider-Man, but that Xbox One and PC weren't. I won't be sharing what these people said, however, as it's really not worth giving them the time of day. It's one thing to be excited that you have access to an exclusive, but being specifically glad that other people don't get to play it is seriously messed up.
Topics: Marvel's Avengers, Square Enix, Spider-Man, PS4
