Marvel Rivals cannot exist without being compared with Blizzard's hero shooter, Overwatch, something which the developers at NetEase have now touched on themselves in an interview.
The upcoming interview with MP1st (an excerpt was shared ahead of the full interview), NetEase touched on the comparison its hero shooter set within the Marvel Multiverse has drawn with Blizzard's hero shooter, Overwatch. The two games are similar in their premise: teams of supercharged heroes tackle each other in a series of objectives in arena-style maps, such as pushing a payload, controlling a point and so on. It's not hard to see the similarities when playing them as well, as many Rivals heroes have similar skills and toolsets found in Overwatch counterparts.
Yet, while the NetEase team states they feel "honored" to be in the same conversation with Blizzard's hero shooter, the do make sure to highlight the differences between the two.
"We are honored to be compared with some of the best games out there in this genre and we feel we offer an experience that builds on some familiar gameplay elements and creates something unique with the opportunity to play as your favorite Marvel characters," NetEase stated in the interview with MP1st (the outlet notes that the quote was attributed to "NetEase as a whole"). They continued, "Marvel Rivals will be faster paced and much more accessible to new players. This game features abilities-heavy gameplay and we put the hero in the hero shooter genre. We want Marvel Rivals to be best in class."
Marvel Rivals is slated to launch this December 6th across PC, Xbox Series S|X, and PlayStation 5, with its entire character roster at launch available as part of the free-to-play hero shooter. Many of its heroes were available to play during open beta tests earlier this year, with more still to come as we head into next month's launch. During Gamescom's Opening Night Live, NetEase revealed Captain America and the Winter Soldier will be joining the launch roster (and I fully believe the Captain will eat a nerf before launch), while Psylocke will also be joining the roster come December 6th.
Personally, I'm looking forward to the hero shooter as someone who played a ton of Overwatch during its first few years (though not so much its sequel). Assuming not much changes (and a few things improve with character speed and some balance issues), I think NetEase has the potential to carve out a solid niche in what has become an increasingly crowded genre, plus the free-to-play angle and huge launch roster should help give it some staying power where, in contrast, a game like Concord just didn't have.
