Marvel Rivals Success Is Forcing Overwatch Developers to Avoid “Playing it Safe”

Marvel Rivals has only been available since last December, but it’s become a huge success in a short amount of time. The gameplay in Marvel Rivals is very similar to Overwatch, and the game seems to have siphoned a significant chunk of its player base. The increased competition has not gone unnoticed by Overwatch‘s developers at Blizzard. In an interview with GamesRadar+, Overwatch 2 director Aaron Keller addressed Marvel Rivals, and how the game’s existence is putting some welcome pressure on the team. Keller made it clear that, in order to compete, Overwatch 2 has to take more risks.

“We’re obviously in a new competitive landscape that I think, for Overwatch, we’ve never really been in before, to this extent where there’s another game that’s so similar to the one that we’ve created,” Keller told GamesRadar+. “There’s actually something kind of exciting about this, for a few reasons. One of those is, it’s really great to see a game kind of take a different direction with some of the things you’ve kind of looked at before. But also, we think it’s a forcing function to our team – this is no longer about playing it safe. And I really think that seasons 15 and 16 are us not playing it safe. But really it’s a forcing function to execute – and for a team of super passionate craftspeople, that’s like music to their ears.”

While the success of Marvel Rivals is undeniable, it will be interesting to see if the game can continue to compete with Overwatch 2 at this level. Overwatch obviously has the benefit of longevity, but NetEase has clearly struck gold, and the developers have a lot of room to build on the current success of Marvel Rivals. Leaks have revealed several unannounced characters, and there’s no shortage of heroes and villains the developers could pull from the Marvel multiverse. On top of that, the developers have indicated that they’re working on additional content, which could mean a possible PvE mode.

Marvel Rivals could continue to grow with a potential version for Nintendo Switch 2. The game is unavailable on Nintendo’s current system, but NetEase recently revealed that it has reached out about getting development kits for Nintendo Switch 2. It remains to be seen whether the game will actually come to Nintendo’s new platform, and how long it might take to arrive. However, there’s clearly an interest on NetEase’s part, and that could mean a larger potential audience for the game.

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Competition is a good thing. At the end of the day, if the success of Marvel Rivals leads to a better version of Overwatch 2, that’s a good thing for gamers. It remains to be seen whether Blizzard can actually manage to offer something different that gets Overwatch players excited again, but hopefully the competition leads to both games doing fun and exciting things.

Do you think the competition between Marvel Rivals and Overwatch 2 will benefit the developers? Are you a fan of both games? Share your thoughts with me directly on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!