One Year Later, Marvel Rivals’ Success Continues Because the Devs ‘Balance For Fun,’ Says Director
Multiversal madness.
The multiplayer shooter scene has been dominated by the same games for the last decade. But exactly one year ago, a new contender entered the ring with Marvel Rivals, and by now, it has more than proven that it has the chops to stick around.
Taking just the right ingredients from the Marvel Universe and from the Overwatch formula, Rivals has carved out its own niche in a highly competitive scene. A big part of that is how the game has doubled down on casual play, and the idea of a hero shooter that’s simply fun to play — no matter what mode. And that ethos is integral to every facet of the game, even the always hotly contested topic of balancing.
“We aim to align with player preferences by deeply exploring the characteristics of heroes within the Marvel universe, offering diverse and fresh hero experiences,” Marvel Rivals creative director Guangyun Yen (better known as GuangGuang) tells Inverse, “Additionally, we focus on innovative elements such as team-up abilities to provide players with an enjoyable hero shooter game. We balance for fun first and foremost.”
With the anniversary of Marvel Rivals, Inverse talked with GuangGuang, reflecting on the game’s first year, the ambitious goal of a new hero each month, and plans for the future.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Have your post-launch plans changed or expanded in any way after the success and reception of the game? How have you ensured the team can stick to that timeline of one new hero every month?
GuangGuang: There certainly has been expansion on post-launch plans. We added a lot of content and value to the community. As a team, we stay flexible and will adjust our development plans based on insights gained from long-term operations and feedback from the community.
We did increase the frequency drop of heroes. Our team consists of talented designers, programmers, and artists who work together to ensure that we maintain a frequency of one hero update each month. We have been very successful on this front.
Time Square is Marvel Rival’s first non-combat map — where 100 players can mingle, dance, and emote their hearts out.
There’s been a lot of experimental modes lately, between Marvel Zombies and the Times Square social map. Is experimentation important for an ongoing game like this? And are you hoping to take more chances on these kinds of different game modes down the road?
We believe that the experimental mode is vital for the long-term success of Marvel Rivals. It functions as a minimal prototype for us to validate, enabling us to observe and collect player feedback during the testing phase. This feedback is crucial for developing more complete gameplay modes based on the prototype in the future.
For hero shooters, especially, balancing is always a major and hotly contested topic. What is it like trying to ensure that a game with so many different characters is “fairly” balanced? And do you think you’ve been successful in that?
The team is successful on this front. On one hand, we aim to offer more possibilities for team compositions and gameplay through hero designs and team-up abilities, embracing a more Marvel-like approach.
On the other hand, we plan to adjust team combinations and balance through seasonal bonuses and adjustments for core synergy characters. Additionally, we continuously monitor the game environment and balance. Based on the appearance rates and win rates of heroes in various contexts, we will make thoughtful adjustments to balance after careful analysis and consideration.
Marvel Rivals has a surprising amount of lore packed into its various seasons, cinematics, readable comics, etc. Was it always a goal to have that depth of storytelling in the game? And is that something you want to continue?
Yes, since we are developing a hero shooter game based on the Marvel Universe, we aim to provide players with a more immersive experience alongside the fast-paced hero shooting gameplay. When designing new season content, we strive to deliver a complete and engaging narrative, as well as unique and well-crafted hero skill designs.
If players have noticed, some of the team-up abilities between heroes also reflect their relationships within the story, which players can dive into more deeply through the cinematics, comics, and more.
Marvel’s power couple are the latest heroes to be added to the game, with Gambit added in November and Rogue on the way in December.
Some players feel like there’s an overwhelming amount of Duelists, versus a smaller pool of Vanguards and Strategists. Do you feel like that’s a fair criticism, and is there a reason behind the disparity?
We have observed discussions like this in the community, but due to the long development cycle for each hero (for instance, we are currently planning the hero roster for this time next year), we have some time to gradually introduce some changes. As we introduce new content in future seasons, we will continue to balance the narrative requirements with the roles of the heroes.
Building on that, how do you decide which category characters will fall into? Are there certain traits or personalities you look for? For example, with Gambit recently being added it feels like he easily could have been a Duelist? Why did you decide to make him a Strategist?
During the design process, we will tailor our designs to the characteristics of the characters and the gameplay requirements. We also consider providing unique interpretations of the heroes.
For instance, Gambit, introduced as a Strategist, has received widespread love and discussion from players. His versatile kit such as healing and debuff allows him to switch between defensive and offensive skills to affect the outcome of the battle.
NetEase is committed to the one hero a month formula for the foreseeable future — even with the game already at a staggering 44 characters.
With a year under your belt now, is there anything you wish you’d done differently in terms of the game’s launch? Or anything you’d wish you’d known before?
We believe that everything we have now is the best, and by looking ahead, the future will be even better.
How far ahead did you have new characters planned out? And are we still seeing heroes you had in the original plan for the game?
More than one year, yes. However, we will continue adding new heroes to our plans for future seasons.
I know this is like choosing your favorite child: is there any one particular hero that’s your favorite? Or that you feel the most proud of in terms of what you achieved with their design?
Everyone on the team has their favorite hero. For me, my favorite is Jeff the Land Shark!
