Marvel Rivals Devs Focus on Game Development, Not Trolling Dataminers

Dataminers of Marvel Rivals have sparked a flurry of excitement and speculation by uncovering lists of potential future characters hidden within the game's code. However, both NetEase and Marvel have clarified that they are more focused on developing the game than engaging in any form of trolling.

Last month, the datamining community began sharing names of prospective heroes, some of which were quickly validated when the Fantastic Four were officially announced for the game. Yet, as the list of discovered heroes expanded, a new theory emerged among players: that some names might be decoys, deliberately inserted by the developers to mislead dataminers.

The community remains divided on the authenticity of the datamined characters. In a recent interview, we directly addressed these speculations with Marvel Rivals producer Weicong Wu and Marvel Games executive producer Danny Koo. While they denied any intentional pranking, they advised taking the datamined names with caution. Wu explained, "So firstly we want to say that we don't recommend anybody to make adjustments to the files [of the game]. Also, you can see that for each character's design actually we come through a very complicated process and we make a lot of concepts, trials, prototypes, development, et cetera. So there could be some information left in the code, and it might mean that we have tried those directions and they may appear or may not appear in our future plans. And whether or not they will appear in our future pipeline is highly depending on what kind of gameplay experience our players would expect in our game."

Koo added, "If I could have a ten-year plan, it'd be great. But the team experimented with a lot of play styles, heroes. It was like there's someone doing scratch paperwork and then just left a notebook there, and someone [a dataminer] decided to open it with no context."

When pressed further on whether they were deliberately misleading dataminers, Koo firmly stated, "No. We would rather spend our time developing the actual game."

During the same discussion, we delved into the process of selecting new characters for Marvel Rivals. Wu and Koo revealed that the team plans updates approximately a year in advance, aiming to introduce new characters every month and a half. The selection process begins with NetEase identifying the type of character and skillset needed to maintain game balance and add diversity to the roster. They compile a list of potential additions, focusing on introducing new experiences rather than extensively tweaking existing characters. Wu emphasized that this approach helps keep the game fresh, supports weaker characters with new team abilities, and counters overly strong ones.

After generating a list of possibilities, NetEase collaborates with Marvel Games to develop initial designs. They also consider community feedback and upcoming Marvel projects, such as films or comic arcs, to finalize their choices. This comprehensive approach explains the presence of numerous hero names in the game's code, reflecting the wide range of ideas NetEase continuously explores.

Marvel Rivals has been a hit since its launch, with each new character enhancing the game's appeal. The latest additions, Human Torch and The Thing, are set to join the roster on February 21. Additionally, Wu and Koo discussed the potential for a Nintendo Switch 2 release, which you can read more about [ttpp].