«Every season we will release new stories, new maps and new heroes,» says Guangyun Chen, director of Marvel Rivals, when asked about the cadence at which players can expect the arrival of new content. «Each season lasts three months, we will divide them into two halves and in each one we will introduce a new hero. We want to continue improving the gaming experience and maintain the enthusiasm of the community.»
The pace of content that Chen proposes is really high. Marvel Rivals arrived on December 5, 2024 with a roster of 33 heroes that has currently been expanded to 35 with the addition of Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman. The other half of the Fantastic Four, Human Torch and The Thing, await the second half of the first season. If from now on the pace is two heroes per season, Marvel Rivals will end its first year with more than 40 playable heroes available. They are all delivered free of charge, since the monetization of the title involves the sale of cosmetic content.
With Marvel Rivals, NetEase Games has the advantage that it does not have to design the heroes from scratch. Both his appearance and abilities are defined by Marvel. Even cosmetics, which undoubtedly involves a significant workload, can be inspired by comics, movies and other media. In comparison, another hero shooter PvP like Overwatch 2 has a roster of 42 playable heroes after several years on the market. However, all the heroes in the Blizzard game are original, and in addition to designing them from scratch you must give them a background and a set of moves.
Guangyun Chen has not revealed who the next heroes to join Marvel Rivals will be. He has not been wet in terms of his role either. The current number of Duelists (18) is disproportionate to the Strategists (8) and Vanguard (8). The director maintains that the choice of heroes will depend on the gaming experience or the theme of each season.