Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics have pulled XP boosts from sale in Marvel’s Avengers following a backlash.
The company added Hero’s Catalysts and Fragment Extractors, both of which are consumables that aid progression, to the in-game marketplace earlier this year despite previously pledging to only ever sell cosmetic items for real-world cash.
It was a move that rubbed players the wrong way, with some Reddit users accusing both companies of “milking the player base dry” and being “dishonest.”
Notably, Hero’s Catalysts and Fragment Extractors were only turned into purchasable items after Square Enix chose to make the XP grind in Marvel’s Avengers even grinder, with the studio increasing the amount of XP required to level up characters from level 25 onwards back in March.
Today, however, both consumables have been removed from sales and an apology was posted on the official Marvel’s Avengers Twitter account.
“We apologize for not responding sooner to your concerns about the addition of paid consumables in the Marketplace. We introduced them as an option for an evolving player base, and did not see them as pay-to-win since they don’t offer power directly,” reads the statement.
“After considering your feedback, we have decided that by the end of today we will remove Hero’s Catalysts and Fragment Extractors for purchase. They will continue to be earnable rewards and those already owned are still usable. We hope that this can be the first step in rebuilding your confidence in us as a team.”