"Marvel Rivals Devs Face Social Media Pressure, Announce Major Season 3 Changes"

NetEase Games is making a significant shift in its Marvel Rivals post-launch strategy by shortening its seasons and committing to introducing at least one new hero every month. This change aims to keep the live service game engaging and maintain momentum with its player base.

The new approach was hinted at during the Marvel Rivals Season 2 Dev Vision Vol. 5 video. The video, which runs for 15 minutes, detailed that Season 2 will kick off on April 11 with the new Vanguard hero, Emma Frost. Mid-season, players can expect the arrival of Ultron, whose class will be disclosed nearer to his launch. Both heroes are set to bring exciting new abilities to the game, but the real transformation in how heroes affect gameplay will start with Season 3.

In Marvel Rivals Season 3, which does not yet have a confirmed release date, NetEase plans to reduce the length of seasons from three months to two. This adjustment will accelerate the pace of major content updates while maintaining the promise of releasing a new hero every half-season. Following Emma Frost's launch next week, the wait for Ultron will be about a month and a half, but subsequent hero releases will come much quicker.

Marvel Rivals' creative director, Guangyun Chen, 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. Social media discussions have added pressure to keep the game as exciting as it was at launch. To a certain extent, we agree.” Chen emphasized NetEase's goal to keep the audience's excitement alive, likening it to the game's opening months, and stated, “The real adventure with Marvel Rivals is just beginning.”

NetEase aims to fulfill players' fantasies about Marvel Super Heroes by introducing new modes and a diverse roster of characters. After extensive internal discussions and evaluations, the company will adjust its systems to handle the increased content flow. More details on how these changes will affect players will be shared before Season 3's launch.

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 on December 6, Marvel Rivals has been a massive success, attracting 10 million players within three days across PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S. On Steam alone, the game saw a peak of 480,990 concurrent players at launch. The first season in January drew even more, with 644,269 concurrent players, making it the 15th most-played game on Valve's platform.

However, player numbers have declined since then, prompting NetEase's strategic roadmap changes. Despite this, Marvel Rivals remains one of Steam's top-played games. The launch of Season 2 is expected to boost player engagement, with Season 3 likely to follow suit.

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