Marvel's Avengers Developer Explains XP Change

Last week, Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix surprised Marvel's Avengers players by revealing that [...]

Last week, Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix surprised Marvel's Avengers players by revealing that the game's next update will change the way that heroes level up. Once each hero has reached level 25, the amount of XP needed to go up a level increases, making it more difficult for players to reach the level 50 cap. The move was met with a mixture of backlash and confusion from fans, who argued that the game was already struggling to find an audience and the change wouldn't help. Crystal Dynamics replied to those criticisms on Reddit, explaining the rationale behind the change.

According to Crystal Dynamics, "the XP required between levels didn't scale well," which meant that players would level up two or three times in a single mission, which might take between 10 and 20 minutes. As a result, sometimes players would gain skill points too quickly, and not have time to properly assign them and get used to them before moving on to the next level.

"We want people to level up, in fact, we really want to see more people level up more Heroes, as playing the full Avenger roster should be the most fun thing you can do, but we don't want the leveling up experience to be too overwhelming or diminish exploring each skill purchase," said Crystal Dynamics.

The change should "add around 3-5 hours to reach the maximum level in total." If the update works as the developer hopes it will, it will give players more time "to engage with and enjoy each skill purchase."

It remains to be seen whether or not the update will work as the developer hopes it will. Replies to the Reddit post seem skeptical, with some arguing that the change will merely drag out the current content, as opposed to giving players more to enjoy. Fortunately, the XP change will be accompanied by new content centered around Clint Barton's Hawkeye. Hopefully that will satisfy players looking for more! The update is set to release on March 18th.

Marvel's Avengers is currently available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Google Stadia, and PC, with PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X versions on the way. You can check out all of our previous coverage of the game right here.

What do you think about the XP change for Marvel's Avengers? Are you disappointed by these changes? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!