Marvel Rivals to release 8 new heroes a year, according to game director

The content just keeps coming for NetEase's Marvel Rivals as players rip into season one this week. From new quests and cosmetics to new arrivals to the hero roster, there's plenty keeping Marvel Rivals players happy — and there's heaps more planned, with game director Guangyun Chen revealing plans for as many as eight heroes released every year.

Developers are also planning on thematic hero buffs each season to promote diversity among picks and constant balancing to keep things fair. Ultimately, NetEase isn't resting on their early laurels and plans for the live service title to survive beyond its peers.

Chen revealed plans for Marvel Rivals seasons going forward in an in-depth interview with Metro, released on Jan. 14. New seasons, which stretch over three months, will come jam-packed with content including fresh storylines, new arenas and at least one new hero every six weeks.

"We just eventually want to continue to enhance the experience, and keep everyone excited in our community," Chen said, adding that seasons would be broken in half to better introduce the new hero and give the player base time to breathe.

Season 1, Eternal Night Falls, landed on Jan. 10 and is themed around the Fantastic Four. We're already able to play as the Invisible Woman and Mister Fantastic. Human Torch and The Thing will arrive midway through the season.

The Empire of Eternal Night maps and balance adjustments are already live — something Chen and NetEase say will be a regular addition each season. "We want to encourage players to use these core heroes by giving them additional season stat bonuses, which helps to then activate more team-ups potentially in one game," Chen said.

"Looking ahead as we move on to seasonal updates, we’ll be introducing new heroes and will also be refreshing the team-ups every season. That includes adding new team-ups, as well as breaking down and reshaping the existing ones to keep the experience dynamic and engaging for everyone."

Marvel Rivals continues to excel as a live service title, but the coming months are crucial. The hero shooter's active player base has surpassed that of Dota 2 according to stats site SteamDB with over 400,000 logging in daily. To ensure Marvel Rivals doesn't go the way of peers like Overwatch 2, NetEase wants to remain active with updates and balancing to ensure both casual and competitive players are happy.

"We really hope that when we do the competitive modes or tournaments, they will co-exist with our quick play," Chen said. "We’ve been seeing a lot of other successful titles being able to pull off a competitive environment and a quick play environment both healthily at the same time."

There are already more heroes hinted at arriving in Marvel Rivals over the coming months. We'll have to see which do make it onto the roster, but at the very least we have an idea of how regularly NetEase plans to roll them out.

That's all for now — stay tuned to esports.gg for more Marvel Rivals news and guides!