Marvel Rivals' game director breaks down success on smash-hit hero-shooter
Marvel Rivals has taken the hero-shooter genre by storm, already amassing thousands of players across Steam, Xbox and PlayStation platforms.
Featuring a massive roster of over 30 beloved Marvel characters, competitive team-based gameplay, and a consumer-friendly digital storefront, it’s seemingly doing everything right.
Check out Marvel Rivals below.
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After playing the game myself and loving every second of it, I was eager to get in touch with the design team at NetEase to learn more about the process of turning one of the biggest multimedia franchises into a successful hero-shooter, something I did with game director Guangyun Chen, and translated by Community Manager James Ng.
Of course, I had to begin by asking about the monumental scale of adapting a multiverse into a hero-shooter. It turns out that the team at NetEase was more than excited to take on the challenge, explaining how the team was given free reign to draw ideas from “a board of over 85 years of incredible storytelling”.
Guangyun said, “When we select our heroes, we don't just focus on, you know, the heavy hitters or fan-favorites like Hulk and Iron Man. We also tend to want to shine a light on some lesser known yet equally fascinating characters. For example, we included characters like Jeff The Landshark and also Squirrel Girl that allow players to experience the Marvel Universe from other unique and enjoyable perspectives.”
The character roster is by far one of the biggest draws to the game, with 33 characters at launch and many more on the way.
“From the very early stage, we sat down with the Marvel team to talk about the launch character roster, and what you’re seeing now is actually around 85% of the characters we initially discussed," said Guangyun. “As we moved on through the development process, we had some intricate discussions on, you know, fitting this character in at this time, and maybe this character, and made a few adjustments to the roster. Overall though, the core lineup hasn't been changed that much.”
There are still a few notable characters missing that fans are already calling for, like the Fantastic Four and more core members of the X-Men. I’m personally hoping for extra street-level heroes like Daredevil or Luke Cage. Quantity aside though, we certainly can’t grumble at the quality of the current roster. Like other hero-shooters, each character plays a role, something that doesn’t just work from a gameplay perspective but also ties into the characters’ histories.
Guangyun said, “When it comes to designing characters in our game, we usually dive really deep into the background and personality of each Marvel character, so every character's gameplay mechanic and skill is really crafted to reflect who these heroes really are in the comics.”
“Take Doctor Strange,” he continued. “His portals are a perfect shout out to his powers in the comics and then there's Spider-Man swinging through the city with a lot of his acrobatic moves. We also have Loki’s shape-shifting powers that let him transform into anyone he wants, Iron Man soaring through the skies with his incredible flight capabilities, Hulk’s ability to swap between Banner and Hulk etc … It's been a blast bringing all these elements to life and really honoring what makes each hero unique, and that's the kind of authenticity that we're aiming for.”
Marvel Rivals also features an impressive team-up mechanic that allows characters to interact with each other to achieve various in-game effects. For example, having Star-Lord, Mantis, and Adam Warlock on the same team grants those characters faster respawn times, and Hulk can pick up Wolverine and hurl him at enemies for bonus damage and distance. These mechanics were apparently pivotal in the game’s development.
Guangyun explained, “One of the core experiences that we've always wanted to deliver on is the energy between superheroes in our game … So we really focused on building that collaborative experience based on the IP and gameplay. And honestly, the excitement around this has been incredible. The feedback has been incredible from the community as well. And you know, we can't wait for more players to dive in and experience it for themselves.”
Aside from the gameplay itself, Marvel Rivals is being hailed by fans as the gold standard for consumer-friendly monetisation. Every character in the game is free, and it sounds like that will be the case for new characters being added in the future. Players can choose to spend their money on in-game cosmetics that don’t change gameplay, and if they’d rather earn in-game currency through playing the game, that is an option available to them, though it’s, of course, a much slower process.
When I asked about this, Guangyun said, “A consumer-friendly monetisation system is super important … When players find the game enjoyable and immersive, we believe that they naturally would want to invest in it, and that's when they'll start picking up skins and, you know, other fan-favorite cosmetics.”
Guangyun continued, “We've actually put a lot of thought and care into designing our hero's outfits and also their accompanying looks and other cosmetics. We generally hope that everyone enjoys what we've created. And you know, at the end of the day, it's about enhancing that player experience and player connection between the players and the characters they love.”
The skins themselves take the form of comic-accurate appearances, or how the heroes appear in some of the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe projects. Iron Man, for instance, can be seen rocking his armour from Avenger’s Endgame, and the Guardians Of The Galaxy characters have their suits from Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3.
Each character also boasts an original design specifically for Marvel Rivals, on which Guangyun said, “Once we launched, we were thrilled to see players really connecting with our character designs, and it's a great feeling. We're super proud of the work that we've done.”
Naturally, not everyone is a fan of every single design. For instance, Wolverine’s default look in the game wasn’t something many fans were keen on, but NetEase has reportedly taken it in stride. Guangyun said, “Hearing what players have to say really helps us understand what parts we can improve, and it really fuels our passion to keep making the game better. And yeah, it's all about that connection and collaboration between the dev team and the players, making sure we're delivering something that would make the players truly happy.”
The final question I had revolved around post-launch support, as the game is currently in Season 0 but devs are already planning more.
In terms of what can be expected in the coming months, Guangyun said, ”Looking ahead, we'll be planning to update the game by seasons. Season One will be landing on 10 January and each season will bring in new heroes and maps, and a whole new lineup of new skins. We're also excited to roll out some special events during the seasons.” New game modes, innovations to the gameplay, and additional story content is also on the cards.
Marvel Rivals continues to impress its current player base - and so far, it’s provided an engaging and fun hero-shooter that could appeal to any and all Marvel fans. What it has more than anything though is potential, potential to be the best in its genre and provide a positive gameplay experience that isn’t bogged down by microtransactions and bloated monetary changes.
Personally I’m looking forward to playing more, especially when the next wave of characters is unveiled, of which I’m hoping the devil of Hell’s Kitchen is one of them…please?
Marvel Rivals is currently free-to-play on Xbox, PlayStation and PC platforms, and is well-worth playing for fans of Marvel and hero-shooters.