Here's exactly how long it takes to beat Marvel's Avengers

Marvel's Avengers will fully launch on September 4, but anyone who pre-ordered the Digital Deluxe Edition is already able to play. As such, the public already knows exactly how much time it takes to complete the various elements of the game.

If you're wondering how many hours the Marvel's Avengers campaign will take and how many missions there are, here's what we know.

How long does it take to beat the Marvel's Avengers campaign?

As a games-as-a-service title, players can possibly sink dozens of hours into the Marvel's Avengers daily missions and other repeatable content. But there's a core story-focused campaign that focuses on Kamala Khan's experience spurring the Avengers to assemble once again.

If players rush through the main campaign missions, ignoring side objectives and other tasks, they can complete the main Marvel's Avengers story in about 10 to 12 hours, according to those with early access, including those of us at Inverse.

This lines up with previous comments from the developers: "If you think about previous Crystal games, you know that if you want to be playing your way through the core story, it's going to be in that area, 10 to 12 hours," Crystal Dynamics' Senior Brand Director Rich Briggs told Comicbook.com last year. "But if you want to see everything there is, and do all the side missions and everything else, you're generally looking at 30 plus hours in the Tomb Raider games." Both estimates remain mostly accurate.

Briggs was right, as the game's length can easily balloon if the side content interests you. Each hero and faction in Marvel's Avengers have their own side mission chains that give more story context as well as additional gear and costumes when completed. Completing these in addition to the other optional drop zones that pop up over the course of the campaign will bring its length much closer to, and possibly over, the 30-hour length teased by the developers.

All of those missions are accessible in multiplayer, as only certain single-player missions are limited to the campaign. As such, players may want to hold off on these until they have the time to go through them with friends. Those who plan to play through all of them as part of the campaign or are just thinking about the 100 percent completing Marvel's Avengers will have dozens of hours of missions to make their way through.

How many story missions are in Marvel's Avengers?

Most missions in the game present a reasonable time commitment. There's a total of 19 core missions of varying lengths. The first two comprise the "A-Day" plot thread leading to disaster in San Francisco, compelling the Avengers to disband. "New Normal" picks up several years later with Kamala Khan that sees her go on a quest to bring the Avengers back together to save the world.

For anyone that's played the beta, you should recognize many of the first six missions on the following list. (Light spoilers included here!)

1. I Want To Be An Avenger!
2. The Light That Failed
3. New Normal
4. The Road Back
5. To Find Olympia
6. Missing Links
7. House Call
8. Armor Chase
9. Alone Against AIM
10. The Dogs Of War
11. Breakout
12. To Stand Alone
13. Once An Avenger...
14. Agony & The Anthill
15. Rocket Man
16. Starktech Outfits
17. Final Preparations
18. Mayhem Over Manhattan
19. By Force Of Mind

Marvel's Avengers will only get bigger over time

While there are already a ton of things to do in Marvel's Avengers, Crystal Dynamics plans to grow the game over time.

Several new heroes and missions are coming to Marvel's Avengers post-launch, and Crystal Dynamics has confirmed that all of these free updates will add new story content to the game. As such, those who are invested in the game's story and the world will have a reason to return time and time again. And because it's a live-service game, it could stand to offer hundreds of hours of entertainment or more.

Marvel's Avengers will be released on September 4, 2020.