'Marvel's Avengers' Release For Next-Gen Consoles, Addition Of Kate Bishop Delayed

A slew of delays for "Marvel's Avengers" has been revealed, including delays for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X versions of the game and the promised arrival of the first DLC.

On Friday, the people at Square Enix announced via the State of the Game Update that they have “made the decision to shift our PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S launch to next year to ensure that we give our team the time to deliver a next-gen experience showcasing all that this game is meant to be."

Thanks to backward compatibility, however, the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of "Marvel's Avengers" would be playable on the consoles that are shipping in November to take advantage of their more powerful hardware, higher framerates, and faster loading times.

Even if players play the game on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, they will still be able to play co-op with their friends who have the PS4 and Xbox One versions of “Marvel’s Avengers” as well as carry existing save games to the PS5 and Xbox Series X and the digital-only Xbox Series S.

Perhaps the bigger disappointment, however, is the delay in the arrival of Kate Bishop in the game. After being announced as the first DLC for the game in September while saying that they are “dedicated as a team to quality first,” Bishop’s expected arrival has been pushed out of October with no new target date revealed.

The delay for Bishop’s addition also entails that her Operation, entitled “Marvel’s Avengers: Kate Bishop – Taking A.I.M.,” will be pushed back along with the introduction of Tachyon Rifts and new threats. This will be introduced at the end of the Reassemble campaign as players investigate the source of those same Tachyon Rifts.

In an attempt to appease fans for the delays, Square Enix announced a “digital thank-you bundle” in the form of free rewards. The bundle includes the following:

• Credits: 1500 – Enough for a Legendary Skin and Nameplate from the Marketplace
• Units: 7000
• Upgrade Modules: 250
• DNA Keys: 20
• A Sarah Garza-Inspired Nameplate

The bundle will be available for players to claim until Nov. 5 at 1 p.m. EDT.

Late game content will also be refined further as new mission types, characters, regions, and higher global stakes are introduced. These include the first Omega-Level Threat mission called the A.I.M. Cloning Lab.

Advanced Idea Mechanics has long been established in Marvel Comics as one of the more diabolical organizations worldwide and is behind most of the chaos in the game.

Although the Cloning Lab will require players to play at a higher power-level, Polygon indicated that it will also have more powerful rewards. But as of late, there is no release date specified for the mission.