Marvel Announces PVP Team Shooter

This week Marvel has announced its latest collaboration within the gaming industry, Marvel Rivals, which is an upcoming team-based third-person shooter. From the initial trailer, it’s clear this project is heavily inspired by the likes of Overwatch and Valorant. The game is set to be developed by NetEase, which is primarily known for developing Mobile titles with the Marvel license such as Marvel Duel and Marvel Super War. However, NetEase has also worked in collaboration with Blizzard to develop the infamous Diablo Immortal.

No doubt Marvel Rivals will be extremely heavy on microtransactions, which is disappointing given I feel the actual premise and gameplay look decent. Character models and designs look nice and the third-person perspective makes combat more akin to something like Smite rather than Overwatch. Maps are destructible, which certainly could offer some unique counterplay options. Additionally, the Team Up mechanic allows two heroes to join together to unleash combination attacks. Certainly a unique concept for sure that encourages team diversity.

The game also has some solid voice talent behind it with Liam O’Brien as Doctor Strange and Yuri Lowenthal reprising his role as Spider-Man. The starting roster is quite diverse with a great mix of characters, and of course, the usual suspects such as Iron Man, Hulk, Black Panther, etc. are here. However, more niche heroes such as Magik, Peni Parker, and Luna Snow will be a part of the starting roster too.

Jay Ong, head of the Marvel games division stated: “Marvel Rivals is one of our most ambitious development projects.” This certainly seems to be the case as the current roadmap promises new characters and maps to be introduced each season. The game is also stated to have an original story mode written by NetEase.

The premise is as follows: “Doctor Doom and his future counterpart from the year 2099 [have] forced countless universes to collide in the Timestream Entanglement, creating new worlds and crises still unknown. Now, Super Heroes and Super Villains from across the multiverse must fight together and against one another as disparate groups seek to defeat both Dooms before one achieves domination of these realities. Familiar faces become newfound foes while former enemies become the greatest of allies in Marvel Rivals!”

Marvel Rivals will be holding a closed Alpha that will begin in May, with sign-ups live right now. The game will be exclusive to PC as of now through Steam and the Epic Games Store. However, I imagine if the game is successful enough it will expand to consoles in the immediate future. You can learn more about the game on the official website.