NetEase Games has pulled from decades of comic book history to pack Marvel Rivals with 48 playable heroes – but will it ever slow down?
We caught up with creative director Guangyun “GuangGuang” Chen and executive producer Danny Koo to learn more about the trajectory of their ongoing superhero hero shooter at GDC. While opening up about how NetEase plans to maintain its one-hero-per-month live-service strategy, the pair touched on whether players could soon see an original character created just for Marvel Rivals.
The short answer? Probably not, or at least not anytime soon.
“We have so many right now,” Koo said. “It’s not the time.”
Koo reiterated previous confirmation that the studio has permission to create original characters should the opportunity arise. So, while a NetEase-made hero isn’t off the table, don’t expect them to swoop into Season 8.
Meanwhile, the team is preparing to kick off its first real collaboration with the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) Path to Doomsday event. The yearlong celebration begins in April and will bring tie-in content through to the release of Avengers: Doomsday when it premieres December 18.
Koo says NetEase plans its content for around a year in advance while ensuring that Marvel Rivals updates line up with the story of the wider Marvel universe. Although Avengers: Doomsday presents an opportunity for an intriguing team-up, he wants players to know “the game comes first.”
Many players believe an MCU collab was inevitable, but some have wondered if Marvel Rivals could ever follow in the footsteps of other live-service multiplayer games by introducing crossovers with properties outside of its own universe. However, comments from Koo suggest those dreams should be put to rest.
“Non-Marvel? We have so many characters in Marvel, [we’re] not looking at outside of Marvel,” he explained. “We do have collaborations with other Marvel games, let’s say. At this point, we have so much content.”
The Marvel universe, which has introduced comic books, movies, TV, video games, and more since 1939, is filled with thousands of characters. Even as NetEase charges forward with two heroes for each of its two-month-long seasons, GuangGuang says he’s not worried about balancing the roster as it grows with more from comics in the future.
“It’s not a very huge number,” he said when referencing the expanding hero pool, “and we can handle it.” However, there is one issue on NetEase’s mind: UI.
“I don’t think heroes will be a problem,” Koo said. “It’s more about UI optimization. It’s like, ‘Who’s your favorite heroes that you want to play, so you can have them at any time at your disposal? What are new characters that you want to play?’ And this is every season, and you have to solve that problem. And then, if the matter changes, it’s like, ‘How am I going to pick those characters?’ Certainly, we’ll work together on how we present that to the players. But I run the live-service side of Marvel games. We have games [that have] over 200-300 characters, and it’s not going to slow down.”
Players have been treated well as Marvel Rivals tears into its second year, with post-launch characters like Deadpool, Gambit, Angela, Else Bloodstone, and the entirety of the Fantastic Four bringing a little something for a variety of Marvel comics fans. As these same fans clamor to see heroes like Bishop, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, and Sersi added to the game, Koo teases that one factor influencing who gets added first is how they can shake up each match.
“We want to work with the team to introduce different play mechanics,” he said. “If someone is too similar, then it’s not that exciting. If we have five shooting guns like Punisher, then it’ll be less exciting than someone that does something completely different.”
Marvel Rivals introduced White Fox as hero 48 when Season 7 launched last week. Spider-Man regular Black Cat will then join when Season 7.5 arrives in the coming weeks. The identities of heroes 50 and 51 remain a mystery as NetEase plots a reveal for Season 8, which is expected to arrive sometime in the next few months.
While we wait to see which comic book character will join the Marvel Rivals roster next, you can read up on the status of a Nintendo Switch 2 version of the game. You can also check in on what the studio is doing to stomp out those who intentionally throw games.
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
