Dataminers of Marvel Rivals have been buzzing with excitement and skepticism over lists of potential future characters found hidden within the game's code. While some of these characters, like the Fantastic Four, were quickly confirmed, others have sparked rumors that NetEase and Marvel might be trolling the community by planting fake names.
The debate within the Marvel Rivals community continues, with players unsure which datamined characters are genuinely being considered for future updates. In a recent interview, we had the chance to address these rumors directly with Marvel Rivals producer Weicong Wu and Marvel Games executive producer Danny Koo. Both firmly denied any trolling, emphasizing their focus on developing the game rather than misleading dataminers.
Wu explained the complexity of character design, stating, "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 a humorous perspective, likening the situation to finding an old notebook of ideas: "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 about any deliberate attempts to mislead, Koo was clear: "No. We would rather spend our time developing the actual game."
In the same discussion, Wu and Koo shed light on the process of selecting new characters for Marvel Rivals. The team plans updates roughly a year in advance, aiming to add new characters every month and a half. They focus on balancing the game and adding variety to the roster by considering the type of character and skillset needed. Wu highlighted that their strategy involves less tweaking of existing characters and more on introducing new ones to keep the gameplay fresh, fill gaps, support weaker characters, and counter overpowered ones.
After identifying potential additions, NetEase collaborates with Marvel Games to develop initial designs. They also consider community excitement and upcoming Marvel projects, such as films or comic arcs, to finalize their choices. This comprehensive approach explains the presence of various hero names in the game's code, as NetEase continuously explores numerous ideas.
Marvel Rivals has enjoyed a successful launch, and with new characters like the Human Torch and The Thing set to join the game on February 21, it continues to grow stronger. For more insights, including the potential for a Nintendo Switch 2 release, check out our full interview with Wu and Koo.
[ttpp]
