The Campaign In Marvel's Avengers Can't Be Played Co-Op

Wanna tear into the campaign of Marvel's Avengers as Thor while your friend rages as the Hulk? It looks like you won't be able to, unfortunately.

According to a report from IGN, the campaign found within Marvel's Avengers is very much designed to be played by a single player, and that has a lot to do with how the story is structured. During the course of the Avengers' campaign, you'll actually get to play as each character, carrying the narrative forward in multiple sections that culminate in a final battle against the Taskmasker. So to incorporate a co-op element in Marvel's Avengers would, obviously, disrupt the campaign experience Square Enix is trying to put together for that portion of the game.

That's just the golden path for the story, though. Square Enix did make mention of some side missions that become available while playing, and those will reportedly include the option to play with a friend, as you'll be able to choose any Avenger you want when starting the mission. So it's not like co-op play is totally being left in the dust when it comes to in-game missions. And co-op will undoubtedly play a large role in Avengers' endgame (not the movie), which figures to be a little more open-ended.

But when it comes to the campaign — the completely original Avengers story Square Enix wants to tell that has nothing to do with the Marvel Cinematic Universe — players probably shouldn't expect to complete that with friends. Instead, you'll have to bust through the story mode on your own and then link up with your buddies afterward for some side mission action or endgame play.

Believe it or not, Marvel's Avengers does have a release date: it's May 15, 2020, which means we have plenty of time between now and then to learn more about what Square Enix hopes to do with the title. As more information comes in, we'll keep you up to speed.