Marvel Rivals

Marvel Rivals
Developer(s)	NetEase Games
Publisher(s)	NetEase Games
Director(s)	Guangyun Chen
Producer(s)	Stephen Wu
Designer(s)	Aden Zhiyong Feng
Artist(s)	Dino Ma
Writer(s)	Jinghua Duan Donger Gan
Composer(s)	Masahiro Aoki
Engine	Unreal Engine 5
Platform(s)	PlayStation 5 Windows Xbox Series X/S
Release	December 6, 2024
Genre(s)	Hero shooter
Mode(s)	Multiplayer

Marvel Rivals (Chinese: 漫威争锋; pinyin: Mànwēi Zhēngfēng) is a 2024 third-person hero shooter video game developed and published by Chinese developer NetEase Games in collaboration with Marvel Games. The game was released for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on December 6, 2024. The game is free-to-play with a current lineup of 33 characters from Marvel Comics, and features cross-play across all supported platforms.

Gameplay

Marvel Rivals is a 6v6 player-versus-player, third-person hero shooter title. With the right combination of two or three characters, players can make use of "Dynamic Hero Synergy" which further maximize their playable character's combat efficiency. The game also features destructible environments, allowing players to alter the battlefield (overseen by Galacta) to their advantage.

Modes

The game has four modes:

• Convoy – Teams are randomly assigned offense or defense. As offense, the objective is to escort a cart or moving object through the map by capturing it, while defender must stop the objective by killing the offensive and recapturing it. If the offensive team escorts the convoy to the end of the map within a time limit, they win. When the attackers capture the object, it starts to move forward without the need of the respective team to stand near it, in case of which it travels at a faster speed. After the defender recaptures the vehicle, it starts to move backwards unless any of the attackers stand near its designated area.
• Domination – Both teams attack a single point on one of a handful of small maps. Whoever captures the point must hold it until it reaches 100%. Whoever captures the point will take the lead. The mode will then jump to another small map and repeat the objective. The first team to reach two captured points wins.
• Convergence – Teams will randomly be assigned offense or defense. As offense, the objective is to attack the first checkpoint on the map and secure it by standing inside. As defense, the objective is to reach the point first and kill any offensive players trying to get in. If the offense successfully captures a checkpoint in time, they’ll move along the map to the next checkpoint. If the offensive team can capture three checkpoints in time, they win.
• Conquest – Players are divided into two teams. Killing any hero will drop points on the ground that the opponent team can pick up. The game ends when one team gets 50 points before the other or when the timer runs out. The team with the most points before it reaches zero is the winner. When the game ends in a tie, the teams are given another chance to score one more point.

Quick Match

Quick match games are non-ranked games where players can play three modes, Domination, Convoy and Convergence. Domination is the only non-competitive mode that features multiple rounds.

Competitive

Competitive features the same modes available on quick match with the difference being each mode has multiple rounds and wins/losses count towards a ranking system. Domination plays the same while for Convoy and Convergence, each team has to defend and attack. For Convoy and Convergence, the team that gets the farthest wins the match, scoring up to 3 points. If both teams reach the end of the map, they are both awarded 3 points and the game goes to overtime. The team that reaches the end of the map with the most time remaining will get two minutes while the other gets one minute. If both teams get the same amount of points, the game ends in a tie with no change to player rankings.

Playable characters

As of November 2024, 33 playable characters have been officially announced. Guangyun Chen said that they wanted to have a character roster ranging from lesser known characters to fan favorites, saying about the design process that "When it comes to designing characters in our game, we usually dive really deep into the background and personality of each Marvel character, so every character's gameplay mechanic and skill is really crafted to reflect who these heroes really are in the comics."

Playable characters are divided into three main roles: Vanguard, Duelist, and Strategist. Vanguard heroes have large health pools and mitigating abilities to increase their survivability. Duelist heroes are designed to deal maximum damage and secure kills. Strategist heroes can assist and support their teammates by healing, increasing damage, and other utility abilities.

Vanguards

• Bruce Banner / Hulk (Joe Zieja / Fred Tatasciore)
• Captain America (Brian Bloom)
• Doctor Strange (Liam O'Brien)
• Groot (Adam Harrington)
• Magneto (James Arnold Taylor)
• Peni Parker (Sally Amaki)
• Thor (Travis Willingham)
• Venom (Steve Blum)
  • Anti-Venom
  • Space Knight

Duelists

• Black Panther (James Mathis III)
  • Bashenga
• Black Widow (Laura Bailey)
• Hawkeye (Andrew Kishino)
• Hela (Nika Futterman)
• Iron Fist (Stephen Fu)
  • Sword Master
• Iron Man (Josh Keaton)
• Magik (Abby Trott)
• Mister Fantastic (Ian James Corlett)
• Moon Knight (Erik Braa)
  • Mister Knight
• Namor (Daniel Marin)
• Psylocke (Alpha Takahashi)
  • Betsy Braddock/Kwannon
• Punisher (Bill Millsap)
  • Jake Gallows
• Scarlet Witch (Kate Higgins)
• Spider-Man (Yuri Lowenthal)
  • Scarlet Spider
  • Chasm
  • Spider-Punk
• Squirrel Girl (Milana Vayntrub)
• Star-Lord (Scott Porter)
• Storm (Mara Junot)
• Winter Soldier (Eliah Mountjoy)
• Wolverine (Steve Blum)

Strategists

• Adam Warlock (Jordan Reynolds)
• Cloak & Dagger (Hakeem Ysaguirre / Xanthe Huynh)
• Invisible Woman
• Jeff the Land Shark (Jon Bailey)
• Loki (Troy Baker)
• Luna Snow (Judy Alice Lee)
• Mantis (Colleen O'Shaughnessey)
• Rocket Raccoon (Nolan North)

Human Torch and Thing are set to be added at a later date.

Additionally, the game is hosted by Galacta (Cassandra Lee Morris) who arranges the battles between the heroes, as they fight to undo the damage to the timestream caused by Doctor Doom (Willingham) and his heroic counterpart from 2099 (Blum). Spider-Zero (Daisy Lightfoot), Master Weaver (Kishino) and Shuri (Lightfoot) also appear as stage elements.

Maps

Nine maps have been confirmed for the game:

• Yggsgard – The kingdom of Asgard having been overtaken by Yggdrasil, conquered by Loki and Hela.
  • Royal Palace (Domination)
  • Yggdrasill Path (Convoy)
• Tokyo 2099 – A version of Tokyo from the future, whose shattered reality is held together by the Web of Life and Destiny, in a war between Spider-Zero and Master Weaver.
  • Spider-Islands (Convoy)
  • Shin-Shibuya (Convergence)
  • Ninomaru (Conquest)
• Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda – An evolved kingdom of Wakanda established in outer space.
  • Hall of Djalia (Convergence)
  • Birnin T'Challa (Domination)
• Klyntar – The prison planet of the symbiotes, overseen by Knull.
  • Symbiotic Surface (Convergence)
• Hydra Charteris Base – Hydra's volcanic home base set in Antarctica.
  • Hell's Heaven (Domination)
• Empire of Eternal Night – New York City, imprisoned in an eternal night by Dracula.
  • Sanctum Sanctorum (Doom Match)
  • Midtown (Convoy)
  • Central Park

Premise

The story follows a hostile meeting between Doctor Doom and his heroic 2099 counterpart, which causes a "timestream entanglement" that leads to new worlds being created and heroes and villains from across the multiverse fighting one another to defeat both Doom variants before one claims victory over the new worlds.

Development

The game was developed by NetEase Games, which had also developed two Marvel games prior to Marvel Rivals: Marvel Super War (2019) and Marvel Duel (2020). The development team is primarily based in Guangzhou, with support from a collaborative team in Seattle. Jay Ong from Marvel Games described Rivals as one of their "most ambitious game development projects".

The Marvel Rivals team continues to support the game through free updates, game modes, cosmetic items, and seasonal events.

Release and marketing

Playtests

Marvel Rivals had a closed alpha test accessible to the public lasting ten days, from May 10–20, 2024. Players could earn permanent rewards transferrable to the game's final release through gameplay. Included rewards were an exclusive alpha tester title and a playable skin for the character Scarlet Witch, both earned through the test's dedicated battle pass. Additional permanent rewards were the "Dawn of Legends" title, gained from placing Top 32 in the game's eponymous alpha tournament, and an in-game spray decoration, gained by playing with/against a game developer during the playtest.

NetEase received backlash during the alpha playtest when streamer Brandon Larned called out the company on social media for including a non-disparagement clause in the contract given to content creators who had access to the alpha test, barring reviews from saying anything negative about the game. Following the controversy, NetEase apologized and stated it would be revising its contract to be more creator-friendly.

A closed beta test for Marvel Rivals took place from July 23 to August 5, 2024 for both consoles and PC.

Release

Marvel Rivals is free-to-play from its initial release. Though the game was set to release for Windows via Steam and Epic Games, NetEase Games had stated that it is exploring potential releases on other platforms. During Sony's State of Play held in May, the game was revealed to also be released for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, as well as its upcoming beta playtest. On November 16, 2024, it was confirmed that Marvel Rivals features an option to select between English, Japanese or Mandarin voice overs at a launch date.

Marvel Rivals was released on December 6, 2024. The game's director Thaddeus Sasser stated there is a switching cost in which players who are invested in one game are less willing to move to other games; he contrasted the success of the Marvel Rivals release with the commercial failure of hero shooter Concord released the same year, attributing the latter's underperformance to it not providing unique value to overcome this consideration.

The Winter Celebration event launched on December 20, 2024; it features a new game mode similar to the Nintendo series Splatoon where all the players play as Jeff the Land Shark.

Monetization

Marvel Rivals is a free to play game and the developers NetEase stated that there will be no purchasable gameplay elements such as heroes or maps. There are methods to purchase cosmetic items like skins, either individually, in bundles, or through a premium battle pass system called "Luxury Pass", though there will also be ways to earn cosmetic items through free play. The battle passes are not time-gated—once purchased they can be completed at the player's own time.

Tie-in media

Marvel Rivals Infinity Comic (2024) is a six-issue digital limited series by writer Paul Allor and artist Luca Claretti; it was published by Marvel Comics as part of their Infinity Comics program on Marvel Unlimited. A new game mode inspired by Marvel Rivals was also added to the tabletop Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game. Additionally, the character Doom 2099 from the game was added as a skin in the online battle royale game Fortnite Battle Royale.

Reception

Reception

Aggregate score

Aggregator	Score
Metacritic	PC: 76/100 PS5: 77/100

Review scores

Publication	Score
GamesRadar+	2.5/5
IGN	8/10

Marvel Rivals received "generally favorable" reviews from critics for the PC and PlayStation 5 versions, according to the review aggregator website Metacritic.

The game reached 10 million players worldwide within 72 hours. Furthermore, it peaked at 480,990 concurrent players on Steam on December 8, 2024. It surpassed 20 million players as announced on December 17.

The introduction of a "vote to surrender" feature in Marvel Rivals sparked debate within the player community. This feature allows teams to end matches early if a majority agrees. Supporters argued it helps avoid frustrating, unwinnable situations, particularly during connectivity issues or unbalanced matches. Critics, however, feared it might foster a defeatist attitude and disrupt team dynamics, potentially leading to increased negativity and premature match endings.

After release, discussion proceeded on in-game censorship of controversial terms. Specifically, censorship of "Winnie the Pooh" caused speculation that the Chinese developer of the game blocked the phrase due to censorship in China. Other banned words include "1989," "Tiananmen Square," and "Free Taiwan." Attempting to use these banned messages in the in-game chat will result in a message stating, "Text contains inappropriate content."

External links

• Official website
• Marvel Rivals at Marvel