Square Enix responds to Spider-Man’s Avengers exclusivity backlash

Recently we reported that the upcoming Marvel’s Avengers title from Square Enix would be adding one of the most popular superheroes in the world – Spider-Man – to the increasing roster of playable characters. Unfortunately for PC and Xbox players, the character will be exclusive to PlayStation systems. Following backlash from fans, the Avengers development team has addressed the issue directly, explaining the reasons as to why.

In an interview with Crystal Dynamics Co-Head Scot Amos, the representative explained that “the beauty of Spider-Man, and what Spider-Man represents as a character, and as a world is… Again, it comes back to the relationship with PlayStation and Marvel. We happened to be… once you can execute and deliver, when it comes down to choices of where and what Spider-Man can be, that's a relationship question that PlayStation absolutely has the rights to, that as you guys know, with Sony's ownership there, and Marvel with Sony saying, ‘Hey, this is something we can do. This is something we can do on this platform.”

Amos elaborated further, saying “But I really do think people will look at this and say, ‘Yeah, okay, we get that, we can understand the business behind that', but in general, we're making this game for everybody. We want this to be the place you get to play those superhero fantasies out with your Avengers team, that continue growing with new characters, characters you ain't even guessed at yet, that are going to come to this roster down the road, and new regions as well. So I am very excited for what the future holds for everybody on all platforms.”

Though much of what was said was already known, it would indeed appear as though the reason for Spider-Man’s exclusivity is down to the ongoing relationship that Sony has with Marvel and Spider-Man. Sony has the exclusive movie rights for Spider-Man, with that relationship developing even deeper following the success of the PS4-exclusive ‘Marvel’s Spider-Man’ which released in 2018 – further suggesting that the character won’t be a timed-exclusive.

Though this news may be disappointing, one silver lining is the fact that the developers confirmed (via IGN) that Spider-Man will be the only exclusive character coming to the game.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of the exclusivity? Do you think it is justified? Has this affected your purchasing decision? Let us know down below.

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