Marvel Rivals dev details seasonal plan for new characters, Team-ups, and more

Marvel Rivals creative director Guangyun Chen has lifted the lid on the seasonal plans for the six-vs-six shooter and how characters, maps, and content will be introduced—with exciting reveals in the process.

Since release in November, Marvel Rivals has been in Season Zero, a mini season that is significantly shorter in length, with season one due in January. Although the precise date has yet to be revealed, we now know what each season will entail. Speaking to Dot Esports, Chen explained how each season in Marvel Rivals will last for three months and will be split into two halves. At the start of each half, new characters will be introduced—effectively meaning new characters at the start of each season and during a mid-season update.

Each season will include “seasonal stories and narrative that introduces corresponding-themed heroes and maps,” so the new drops will not be random in nature and instead fit with the flow of the game. With the converging timelines in Marvel Rivals, however, that still leaves the doors wide open for a variety of characters.

As we’ve seen from the narrative in Marvel Rivals so far, which has been slowly unlocked by completing seasonal missions, the stories are gripping and full of excitement due to the fact that NetEase has “some of the most well-known screenwriters and artists” from Marvel available to help weave these tales. The most interesting reveal from Chen, however, came on Team-ups, which he explained will be updating each season as new heroes are introduced. Not only does this mean new Team-ups will be released, but the devs are also “breaking and reshaping existing Team-ups” in future seasons, resulting in “even more gameplay possibilities.”

Chen also broke down the design behind the controversial seasonal boosts feature, which has caused a stir in the community. The “core” characters from Team-ups receive a seasonal boost when activated, and the goal is to “encourage players to use Team-ups to receive the seasonal stat boosts.”

Another complaint from some in the community centers the roles chosen for certain heroes, including a push for Wolverine to be adjusted to a Vanguard. But there are currently no plans to switch up existing heroes. Instead, the “focus is balancing them based on their current roles and gameplay.”

The community’s requests for more Vanguards and Strategists has been heard, however, and Chen confirmed the team is “looking to balance the roles through character updates in future seasons” and that Marvel has a “ton of awesome characters” to consider.

We asked about whether there was the possibility for “enhanced” skins to be introduced for characters that share a lot of similarities, which games like Marvel Heroes have used in the past to introduce Wiccan as a skin for Scarlet Witch, Beta Ray Bill for Thor, and Kate Bishop for Hawkeye.

Although the door isn’t shut entirely, there’s still a lot to be discussed about “rules and boundaries for skin designs” and, right now, the team is “exploring the possibilities.”