Marvel Rivals turns Overwatch into the Earth’s mightiest superhero shooter

The “hero shooter” is a popular competitive multiplayer game subgenre where players control characters with powerful preset abilities rather than a customizable loadout. Although “hero” is right there in the subgenre name, and Overwatch proved how well superheroes could work with the concept, we haven’t gotten a true attempt at this style of game from Marvel or DC.

Marvel Rivals is out to change that, starting with its first open alpha this May.

NetEase and Marvel Entertainment unveiled Marvel Rivals on Wednesday, March 27. It’s a competitive 6v6 multiplayer game starring characters from the Marvel multiverse. Ahead of its announcement, I spoke to game director Thaddeus Sasser, who gave me more insight into how characters were chosen for Marvel Rivals, how NetEase balanced making these characters feel powerful without breaking game balance, and what it will take for a fledgling multiplayer game to survive in 2024.

Creating Marvel Rivals’ roster

In Marvel Rivals, Doctor Doom and his 2099 variant are feuding. That causes the multiverse to collide in something called the Timestream Entanglement, which provides the backdrop for 6v6 matches. In those battles, teams of heroes and villains try to protect their own timestreams and defeat the Dooms. It obviously won’t be as narratively driven as something like Marvel 1943: Rise of Hyrda, but it’s a sensible premise for a multiplayer Marvel game.

Sasser says that all the interactions between the different characters and live service support give the team opportunities to explore this narrative over time as well. As for how NetEase went about picking the characters for Marvel Rivals, Sasser credits that to the studio’s relationship with Marvel. Right now, 18 characters are confirmed for Marvel Rivals.