A Marvel Heroes player who goes by EITTurtle bought the game on Xbox in July. Since then, he says he’s sunk $US400 ($529) in microtransactions, unlocking characters such as Spider Man, Storm and Captain America. Earlier this week, Marvel announced that the game’s servers will be shut down in December. And EITTurtle, like many other players, is now begging for a refund.
Marvel Heroes is a free-to-play “Marvel Diablo” game that developer Gazillion Entertainment released on PC in 2013. Earlier this year, Gazillion ported the game to Xbox One and PS4. Players could access a few characters without paying, but to get all of the game’s heroes, you’d have to buy them at around $US5 ($7) per character or in packs costing $US20 ($26). You could also spend money on other add-ons, such as costumes. Earlier this week, after Gazillion lost its contract with Marvel, the company said said it would remove real-money purchases ASAP.
It was good and well for Gazillion to make the whole game free during its sunset hours, but console players are peeved – and in some cases, furious – that they only got a couple of months’ play out of Squirrel Girl and her superhero kin, especially since many invested a chunk of cash into the game. On PC, players might have had years to enjoy their premium heroes, but console players have just had a few months. A few players have reported snagging refunds for Xbox purchases made in the last month or so, but dozens on the /r/MarvelHeroes subreddit have posted comments about their own failed efforts.
Marvel, Sony, Microsoft and Gazillion did not return requests for comment on how Marvel Heroes is handling refunds. But Marvel Heroes‘ terms of service says that Gazillion can get rid of the game and in-game content whenever it wants and owe its users nothing, a clause that is included in just about every game that sells add-ons.
“I know there a lot of hard working players out there that take pride in grinding and spending hours to unlock characters,” EITTurtle told me. “I am not one of those people… for me, time is money.” He says when he tried to get a refund, Xbox Support told him that they didn’t yet have official word on how Gazillion plans to handle the process.
Seanacy Fillock, who spent over 700 hours playing the game, mostly on PC but a little on PS4, said he isn’t demanding a refund for his PC gear because he’s had it for so long, but that he didn’t get his money’s worth in the few months he had the game on console. He said he was actually connected to a Sony customer support agent who was also trying to get a refund for the game. The agent, however, could not help him get his money back. Andrew S., who has spent $US75 ($99) on in-game Marvel Heroes purchases, sent Kotaku screenshots in which a Microsoft support specialist says that Andrew can’t get his money back.
Andrew added that Marvel Heroes‘ servers shutting down feels like “a slap in the face on several levels”, adding that “I barely had it and it’s already leaving.”
Comments
6 responses to “Marvel Heroes Players Are Demanding Refunds For In-Game Purchases”
This is to be expected. Sink money into microtransactions, of course you’ll lose your stuff when it shuts down.
Yes and No… played a few MMO’s that have closed during the years and it’s expected that everything goes when the time comes for it to close but we’re talking about the console port of the game here which was released a mere 6 months ago.
I can understand the frustration coming from the console players here as it’s technically a recent release game as far as they are concerned and would have had no idea that a game would be closing in less than a year.
Not exactly the same as playing an MMO for years coming at its end of life phase.
Most tragic part, she is not in a lot of games. Thankfully I hear she is in Lego Marvel Heroes 2.
Also, for refunds. Console players got screwed, I fully support them getting refunds. Only a few months into release and they can it, it’s terrible.
Well one good thing about the Australian consumer laws, might be able to use that one if there is an issue with refunds, major fault in this case, “if I knew the game was going to be decommissioned in 6months I wouldn’t have purchased the game or its dlc” that pretty such describes what a major fault is by the accc definition
One thing the article failed to mention is that, despite a supposed worldwide release in July, the game was never made available in the Xbox One store in Australia.
Don’t buy micro-transactions. Ever.
Oh and screw you Disney. Anyone who think this is Marvel’s doing is wrong.
Correct.
Disney is currently in the process of cutting off non-Disney sources on their properties, so they can re-allocate or outright remake under their own controlled interests, to ensure they maintain the most control, spending efficiency and revenue gain.
Don’t be surprised if there’s already some new form of Marvel Heroes Omega being developed, and that it should appear down the road.
lol
While I played a lot of the game on PC since launch, I definitely feel for console players here (although as I mentioned above it was never made available in the Aussie Xbox store).
It’s pretty much the same as what happened with Infinite Crisis. We barely had time to enjoy it before it was gone 🙁
What people don’t reliase is that allot of these digital items you buy, you never really have ownership of them. They are still wholy owned property of the owner of the intelctual property. Dropping cash on this stuff only entitles you to its use witin the confined environment provided for you and set out in the agreed terms of play.
It sucks sure, but that’s all you are paying for.
One group is making an attempt to acquire the rights to the game to ensure it doesn’t disappear forever. That doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t have the same challenges using Marvel characters as Gazillion. A change.org petition to Disney is underway to help encourage them to give a new company a shot. Here is the site launched today.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/marvel-heroes-rebirth-rpg/x/3720418#/