Marvel Rivals Dev Announces Major Season 3 Changes Amid Social Media Pressure

NetEase Games is making a significant shift in its Marvel Rivals post-launch strategy to keep the game's momentum going strong. They're planning to shorten the seasons and ensure at least one new hero is introduced every month, a move aimed at maintaining the excitement among players.

This major update to the content release schedule was hinted at during the Marvel Rivals Season 2 Dev Vision Vol. 5 video. The video, which runs for 15 minutes, revealed that Season 2 will kick off on April 11 with the introduction of the new Vanguard, Emma Frost. Mid-season, fans can look forward to Ultron, whose class will be disclosed closer to his launch. Both characters are set to bring fresh abilities to the game, but the real game-changer in terms of hero impact on matches will start with Season 3.

In Marvel Rivals Season 3, which doesn't have a set release date yet, NetEase plans to reduce the season length from three months to two. This change will accelerate major content updates while still fulfilling their commitment to introduce at least one new hero every half-season. So, while you'll wait a month and a half to play as Ultron after Emma Frost's debut next week, subsequent hero releases will come much quicker.

Marvel Rivals creative director Guangyun Chen shared in the Dev Vision video, "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 their goal to keep the audience's excitement alive, stating, "With our goal of keeping the audience’s excitement alive just like our opening months, the real adventure with Marvel Rivals is just beginning." He further explained that NetEase aims to fulfill everyone's fantasies about Marvel Super Heroes by introducing new modes and a diverse roster of characters. After extensive internal discussions and evaluations, NetEase will adjust its systems to handle the increased content flow. More details on how this 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.

Marvel Rivals was a massive success upon its December launch, attracting 10 million players in just three days. The game, a free-to-play superhero team-based PvP shooter, was released on December 6 across PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S. On Steam alone, it saw 480,990 concurrent players at launch, and Season 1 in January peaked at 644,269 concurrent players, making it the 15th most-played game on Valve's platform.

However, the number of concurrent players has been declining since then, which might have prompted NetEase's drastic roadmap changes. Despite this, Marvel Rivals remains highly popular and is among Steam's most-played games. The launch of Season 2 is expected to boost player engagement, with Season 3 likely to follow suit.

For more insights into Marvel Rivals, don't miss the patch notes for update version 20250327 and why Disney decided to scrap an idea for a Marvel Gaming Universe.