Today, players are anticipating the new Marvel Rivals patch, but it’s shaping up to be less of a game-changer than many hoped for. Primarily, it brings some fresh, purchasable skins for Captain America and Luna Snow, along with fixing a handful of smaller glitches. However, if you were expecting tweaks to the game’s balance, this patch doesn’t deliver that.
NetEase, the developer behind Marvel Rivals, has yet to outline when we might see a major balance update. Being in the inaugural season, players don’t have previous seasons to look back on for guidance. What we do know is they’re planning to introduce new heroes every six weeks. Since Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman joined the lineup on January 10, it’s reasonable to anticipate the Thing and Human Torch making their debut around February 21, right in the thick of the three-month season.
Considering Marvel Rivals shares some DNA with Overwatch 2, it’s plausible that a mid-season patch could finally address balance changes that players are itching for. Blizzard, for instance, often holds off until mid-season to let players acclimatize to the current meta, and perhaps NetEase is following a similar playbook.
In a January chat with Metro, game director Guangyun Chen mentioned that they’re closely monitoring hero usage and win rates to decide what kind of balancing is necessary. He assured players that “after thorough analysis and careful consideration, we’ll make the needed balances and tweaks.”
The community’s buzzing with speculation about how NetEase intends to manage the overwhelming influence of support heroes in the game. Characters like Luna Snow and Mantis wield incredibly potent ultimates that are difficult to counter, igniting debates on whether they should see a nerf. Meanwhile, at higher skill tiers, Storm remains unmatched with her win rates topping the charts.
As it stands, the latest content to dive into includes a sleek, futuristic skin in pink and purple for Luna Snow, as well as a rugged version of Steve Rogers reminiscent of his Avengers: Infinity War days.
