The final patch of Marvel's Avengers will make almost all items from the in-game store free of charge

The final update for Marvel's Avengers is now available, giving players full access to "almost everything" in the game, including costumes, emotions, kills, nameplates, and a special "Founder's Gift" for anyone who has earned at least one achievement or trophy by April 1st.

Marvel's Avengers met its demise in January when Crystal Dynamics gave up after more than two years of trying to find a stable audience, to no avail. The game stumbled right out of the gate - we said it "didn't quite look superheroic" in our initial preview back in 2019 - and things didn't get much better from there: fans were confused by platform exclusivity, the 2020 beta left us indifferent, and by the end of 2021, Square Enix admitted it was a "disappointing" release.

From that point on, Marvel's Avengers continued on its path, but in January of this year, Crystal Dynamics surrendered to the inevitable, announcing that Update 2.8, scheduled for March 31, would be the last, and that "official support" would end on September 30. Fortunately, this is not the end of the road: single-player and multiplayer modes will remain available for an indefinite period of time, though Crystal Dynamics warned that it cannot guarantee it "will be able to address issues arising from unforeseen circumstances" after that date.

The biggest change in Update 2.8 is the opening of the Marvel's Avengers Marketplace store, which is a repository of all of the game's additional cosmetic items. Here's what this means for players:

• Almost all costumes, emotions, killings, and nameplates inspired by both the MCU and non-MCU are now automatically available on your hero card.
• Items obtained during the campaign or purchased from the cosmetic vendor must be earned or purchased as usual.
• The supply system and hero trial cards have been completely removed from the game. Items that were previously obtainable through supplies and hero trial cards are now included among the hundreds of items on the marketplace that are automatically provided upon updating to version 2.8.
• You do not need to connect to the internet to access all the unlocked content on the marketplace after updating to version 2.8. As a thank you to players who have been with us on this journey, we are giving a special founder's gift - Iron Man's "Variable Threat Response" Combat Suit - one trophy/achievement until April 1st.
• All existing credit balances have been converted to in-game resources. Please see our Patch Notes blog (opens in a new tab) for information about this conversion. For questions regarding the conversion of your balance, please contact our support service at http://support.crystald.com/ (opens in a new tab).
• Catalysts and fragment extractors belonging to the Hero have been completely removed from the game. Instead, there is now a permanent 1.5x multiplier for earned fragments and experience gained.
• On April 4th, a small fix, update 2.8.1, will be released that addresses a known issue. (This issue is detailed in the patch notes.)

This is both a victory and a defeat for players who now have in their hands many things about superheroes, as well as the cold confidence that there will be no more. Accordingly, some have expressed gratitude for the game and disappointment in its end, while others are unhappy that some promised features or changes to the gameplay will not be implemented.