Despite Marvel’s Avengers shutting down and Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League’s dwindling player numbers, the team behind Marvel Rivals isn’t worried about entering the live-service superhero market. The team-based hero shooter even has to compete with the free-to-play Overwatch 2, so we talked with the developers at NetEase and Marvel Games about where superhero games are headed, and how they’re planning on making Marvel Rivals different.
As the Marvel Rivals release date gets closer and closer, we had a chance to talk to the team at this year’s Summer Game Fest. With a successful playtest under NetEase’s belt, the shooter that wants to rival Overwatch 2’s dominance has a big challenge ahead of it, not least of all because online superhero games have struggled in recent years.
During an exclusive Marvel Rivals interview, we asked Marvel Games’ executive producer Danny Koo if he thinks hero-centric games are here to stay despite Suicide Squad and Marvel’s Avengers’ lackluster performances.
“I feel like it’s important to continue to present superheroes in different mediums, especially in TV shows, movies, and games, with the new generation of audiences playing games since they were young,” Koo tells us. “So games are here to stay. I think a superhero is something aspirational, at Marvel, superheroes are different; we put the human in superhuman.”
“So we want to tell those stories and impact lives around the world, and also have a cast of characters that anyone can relate to. A lot of people know Spider-Man, but not many know Magik and Luna Snow, so I hope different people can see themselves while learning more about the characters.”
We’ve already talked with NetEase about how it’s positioning Marvel Rivals as something wildly different to Overwatch 2, but the always-online live service superhero genre is a turbulent one at the best of times.
Marvel’s Avengers died after chasing the live service dream, and Suicide Squad has even been branded a “disappointment” by Warner Bros as player counts slip into the double digits on Steam. Games like Spider-Man 2 find colossal success, but online superhero adventures do not, at least in recent years.
If you’re brushing up on the Overwatch 2 competitor though, we’ve got all you need to know about the Marvel Rivals characters, alongside the Marvel Rivals system requirements to make sure your rig can handle it.
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Additional reporting by Lauren Bergin for PCGamesN at Summer Game Fest.