Marvel Rivals Dev Responds to Social Media Pressure, Announces Major Season 3 Changes

NetEase Games is making significant changes to the post-launch roadmap for Marvel Rivals, aiming to shorten seasons and introduce at least one new hero every month. This strategic shift is designed to keep the live service momentum strong and maintain player engagement.

These changes were hinted at during the Marvel Rivals Season 2 Dev Vision Vol. 5 video. The video, lasting 15 minutes, outlined that Season 2, launching on April 11, will introduce Emma Frost as the new Vanguard. Additionally, Ultron will join the roster mid-season, with his class to be revealed closer to his release. Both characters will bring new abilities that promise to keep fans excited. However, the most significant shifts in how heroes impact gameplay will start from Season 3.

In Marvel Rivals Season 3, which does not yet have a set release date, NetEase plans to reduce season lengths from three months to two. This adjustment will allow for faster content updates while maintaining the commitment to release at least one new hero every half-season. This means that after Emma Frost's launch next week, the wait for Ultron will be about a month and a half, but subsequent hero releases will come even quicker.

Guangyun Chen, the creative director of Marvel Rivals, shared insights in the Dev Vision video, stating, "Since the launch of Season 1, we’ve been deeply contemplating how Marvel Rivals can continuously deliver fun and engaging experiences for you all. During this time, several discussions on social media have certainly added some pressure on us to keep the game as exciting as it has been since December. To a certain extent, we agree."

Chen emphasized their goal to keep the audience's excitement alive, similar to the opening months of the game, and noted that "the real adventure with Marvel Rivals is just beginning." He also highlighted NetEase's ambition to fulfill players' fantasies about Marvel Super Heroes through new modes and a diverse roster of characters. After extensive internal discussions and evaluations, NetEase plans to adjust its systems to accommodate this increased content flow. More details on how these changes will affect players will be shared before Season 3 launches.

Just hours ago, NetEase pulled back the curtain on Marvel Rivals Season 2, announcing a shift from the vampire takeover theme to a new storyline centered around the Hellfire Gala. This change will bring new outfits, maps, and characters, with more details to be revealed in the coming weeks.

Since its launch in December, Marvel Rivals has been a massive success, attracting 10 million players in just three days. The game, a free-to-play superhero team-based PvP shooter, is available on PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store, as well as on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S. On Steam, the game saw a peak of 480,990 concurrent players at launch, which increased to 644,269 during January's Season 1, ranking it as the 15th most-played game on Valve's platform.

Despite a recent decline in concurrent players, Marvel Rivals remains highly popular and is among Steam's most-played games. The upcoming Season 2 and the anticipated Season 3 are expected to boost player engagement further.

For more details on Marvel Rivals, you can explore the patch notes for update version 20250327 and learn why Disney decided to scrap an idea for a Marvel Gaming Universe.