After months of waiting, it's almost time for Avengers fans to assemble on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Following a tumultuous launch, Crystal Dynamics made the decision in October to delay the upgraded versions of Marvel's Avengers on the next generation of consoles until 2021. The developer has now confirmed not only the release date of next-gen versions, but also what upgrades players can expect from them.

What is the Avengers Xbox and PS5 Upgrade release date?

Marvel's Avengers will come to the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on March 18 as free upgrades for existing players, which coincides with the release of the game's second free story DLC. The DLC will focus on Clint Barton, AKA Hawkeye, as he seeks to prevent a world-ending invasion of Earth in the future.

The repetitive nature of much of the game's content is an ongoing complaint from players, but between the excellent main story campaign, the Kate Bishop expansion and the upcoming Hawkeye storyline, not to mention the upgrades that are due to come on next-gen platforms, it could be a good time to jump into Marvel's Avengers if you haven't already.

What are the upgrades on PS5?

Playing the PS4 version of Marvel's Avengers using the PS5's backwards compatibility function promises faster load times and improved framerates, but Crystal Dynamics has confirmed a whole host of other upgrades that will come with the PS5 version of the game. Load times are said to be "significantly" faster still, while the next-gen version will also run in native 4k with higher-resolution textures, improved heroics and armour destruction, spatial audio, haptic feedback and more.

The full list of upgrades can be seen below:

What are the upgrades on Xbox?

Marvel's Avengers' Twitter account has not confirmed the specs for the Xbox upgrade, which perhaps isn't surprising given their deal with PlayStation, which will at some point include Spider-Man as an exclusive playable character. However, Twitter user

For the Xbox players pic.twitter.com/icAu1xAtbC

— lionslunchtime (@lionslunchtime) February 22, 2021

">Lionslunchtime has shared this image which appears to show the upgrades Xbox players can expect, although bare in mind that it may not be official:

The specs shared in their image suggest Xbox Series X players will also enjoy the game running at native 4k with higher-resolution textures, although Series S players will have to make do with native 1440p resolution. As on the PS5, players on both Xbox platforms will enjoy stochastic screen-space reflections, contact-aware sharpening, higher-resolution translucency, improved ambient occlusion and improved anisotropic texturing. Just don't ask us what any of those mean.

The Avengers Xbox and PS5 upgrade release date is March 18.