Marvel Rivals has revealed its ambitious plans to release new characters at a blistering pace. While this may seem exciting at first glance, it could have a ripple effect that completely breaks the game.
Any hero shooter lives or dies by its roster of characters, and Marvel Rivals has come out swinging. It launched with a huge lineup of 33 iconic heroes and villains, and this number is only set to grow in the months and years ahead.
After Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman arrived with the Season 1 update and the rest of the Fantastic Four were due in the mid-season update, the game’s director announced that they plan to release a new character every month and a half going forward.
This works out at around 8 new faces every single year, a release rate that would see the Marvel Rivals roster dwarf Overwatch 2’s by late 2025 or early 2026. But while this is no doubt exciting, especially for die-hard Marvel fans hoping to see Mysterio (like me), it’s going to make balancing a nightmare.
Perfectly balanced, as all things should be
One of the greatest challenges for any ongoing online game is ensuring that all characters are genuine options, and this only gets more difficult as the roster grows. Even a game with years of tinkering under its belt like Overwatch still has seasons where a handful of characters are head and shoulders above the rest, while others are completely unusable.
This is something that Marvel Rivals has already struggled with since launch, as the likes of Jeff the Land Shark and Hawkeye dominated Season 0, while heroes like Storm weren’t in the conversation at all. But since Season 1, Storm has shot to the top of the meta, while former favorites like Iron Fist have been abandoned.
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Now, fast forward a few years into the future after another 24 or so characters have been thrown into the mix, bringing the total close to 60. How can you possibly ensure that every single hero is viable and has their own niche?
Look at a game like Warzone, which features close to 200 weapons with more being added all the time. On the face of it, this seems like it would mean plenty of variety from match to match, but in reality, only a dozen or so guns are actually viable at any given time.
If Marvel Rivals continue to release characters at this planned pace, the devs run the risk of losing the tight, clearly defined lineup of heroes available right now, in place of a messy, overblown roster with too much deadwood. There’s sure to be overlap in terms of roles and abilities, and it seems inevitable that a handful will rise to the top while others fall by the wayside.
Of course, there’s every chance that NetEase could defy the odds and continue to release well-balanced characters that serve a meaningful purpose. But history isn’t exactly on their side, and I fear that Marvel Rivals could lose some of its quality in pursuit of quantity.
For more on Marvel, check out the full timeline of every MCU project, and all the upcoming movies and TV shows you need to know about.