Marvel Rivals is a free-to-play team-based hero shooter developed by NetEase Games. The game features multiple playable characters from the Marvel Universe in a 6v6 environment. Overwatch has been a dominant force in the hero shooter market for almost eight years, and multiple games have tried to replicate its success to no avail. Marvel Rivals seeks to challenge Blizzard’s throne.
The story revolves around Doctor Doom and Doctor Doom 2099 who have managed to merge realities and it has led to heroes and villains from multiple universes to team up and stop the deadly duo. The Marvel brand alone will bring in a ton of players and it just might be the first hero shooter to truly go neck and neck with Overwatch.
What is Marvel Rivals?
6v6 player-versus-player battles with characters from the Marvel universe. The game emphasizes teamwork and combining character abilities for powerful "Team-Up Skills." Environments seem to be destructible like The Finals, adding another layer of strategy to the game.
The cast of characters in Marvel Rivals include:
- Magneto
- Bruce Banner/Hulk
- Storm
- The Punisher
- Loki
- Doctor Strange
- Mantis
- Rocket Raccoon
- Black Panther
- Groot
- Magik
- Luna Snow
- Spider-Man
- Iron Man
- Scarlet Witch
- Peni Parker & Sp//dr
- Star Lord
- Namor
There are just two characters that have not made an appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far. First, we have Luna Snow, a South Korean superhero who made her first appearance in Agents of Atlas in May 2019. Secondly, we have Galacta, who is Galactus' daughter, as the game’s announcer. A closed Alpha is coming up in May 2024, and players on PC will get a first look at the game soon. While a console release has not been confirmed soon, in a Discord post, one of the Marvel Rival community staff mentioned that the developers are looking to bring the game to additional platforms in the future. Registrations for the beta are currently open, and you should receive a message if you are selected in the coming weeks.
What Marvel Rivals Can Learn From Overwatch 2’s Failures
Overwatch 2's development became a moving target. Originally planned as a more expansive experience with a PvE mode, it eventually became a primarily PvP (player-versus-player) focused game with a free-to-play model. This disappointed some fans who were looking for a bigger evolution. If Marvel Rivals does not offer anything new to the table outside of its PvP modes, the Marvel brand alone might not be good enough to lure players into the new game long-term.
With development focused on Overwatch 2, the original Overwatch saw a slowdown in new content updates in the years leading up to the sequel's release. This left some players feeling the game had become stale. Even after the release of Overwatch 2, the seasons feel too long, and there have been multiple seasonal updates without a new hero. If updates are regular and we have more frequent events and hero (or villain) launches in Marvel Rivals, it could lead to a more engaging experience for its players.
PvE Could Be A Huge Win for Marvel Rivals
Players had high hopes for the PvE (player-versus-environment) aspect of Overwatch 2, but it ended up being scrapped. Many Overwatch fans were drawn to the rich world and characters. A PvE mode promised a chance to delve deeper into the lore and story through co-op missions and campaigns. Marvel Rivals has established characters and plenty of source material to draw from if it wants to go the PvE route.
The Avengers game turned out to be a total disaster and Marvel Rivals could tap into the kind of PvE content that Overwatch was aiming for. Players craved a PvE mode from Overwatch 2 that offered a satisfying progression system with rewards specific to that mode. This could include unlocking new abilities, character skins, or lore entries. If Marvel Rivals can deliver that to its players, it could cater to the casual audience more.
A lot of casual players do not care about competitive leaderboards or esports. They simply want to hop in and have fun, and offering a separate PvE mode could provide a separate laid-back experience that Overwatch 2 currently lacks.
Netease’s Controversial But Successful Past
Remember Diablo Immortal’s “Do you guys not have phones?” controversy? Longtime Diablo fans were disappointed with the direction of the franchise. Many NetEase games, including Diablo Immortal, are criticized for aggressive monetization practices. These often involve loot boxes with random rewards (gacha) and microtransactions that grant significant in-game advantages. This can be seen as predatory, targeting players to spend excessively for a chance to win or progress faster.
Despite the controversy around Diablo Immortal, it became the biggest launch in the Diablo franchise history at the time with over 10 million downloads in its first week. The free-to-play model likely played a big role in its success but it made over USD 525 million in its first 12 months which shows how tight of a grip Netease has on the mobile gaming market.
One of the biggest concerns that players have with Marvel Rivals is the introduction of game mechanics that might be “pay-to-win.” If the model is similar to that of Overwatch or Paladins with free hero unlocks and monetized cosmetics, there won’t be much to complain about when it comes to monetization. Many speculate that Netease might go easy on monetization because it is a planned PC title only as of now with the potential to expand to consoles, but only time will tell if that’s the case.
This is not Netease’s first rodeo with Marvel. The publisher has worked with the entertainment giant to produce Marvel Duel, a collectible card game that is currently available in Asian markets only. There’s also Marvel Super War, a MOBA that is available in select regions as well. I am excited to try out the game in May and hopefully, it lives up to the expectations as a fun little hero shooter that I can hop into every now and then.
