Marvel Rivals Devs Focus on Game Development, Not Dataminers

The community of Marvel Rivals has been buzzing with excitement and speculation after dataminers uncovered lists of potential future characters hidden within the game's code. This frenzy began last month when a few names, including members of the Fantastic Four, were quickly confirmed as upcoming additions to the game. However, as the list of datamined heroes expanded, a new theory emerged: some names might be red herrings, deliberately planted by the developers to mislead dataminers and stir the community pot.

This speculation has led to a divide among players, with ongoing debates about which of the datamined characters might actually make it into the game. In an effort to get to the bottom of these rumors, we had the chance to speak directly with Marvel Rivals producer Weicong Wu and Marvel Games executive producer Danny Koo. Both firmly denied any intention of trolling the community, emphasizing their focus on developing the game rather than engaging in pranks.

Wu explained the complexity behind character development, 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 to this by likening the situation to finding a notebook full of scratch work, saying, "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 on whether they were deliberately misleading dataminers, Koo responded with a firm, "No. We would rather spend our time developing the actual game."

During our conversation, we also delved into the process of selecting new characters for Marvel Rivals. Wu and Koo shared that the team plans updates approximately a year in advance, aiming to add new characters every month and a half. The process involves identifying the type of character and skillset needed to maintain balance and add variety to the game. NetEase compiles a list of potential additions, considering how new characters can enhance game balance, introduce fresh experiences, support weaker characters with new team abilities, or counter overly strong ones.

These suggestions are then presented to Marvel Games, where initial designs are developed. The final decision on which characters to include is influenced by community interest and upcoming Marvel projects, such as films or comic arcs, allowing for timely tie-ins. This comprehensive approach explains why numerous heroes might appear in the game's code—NetEase is constantly exploring a wide range of ideas.

Marvel Rivals has been well-received since its launch, and the addition of new characters like the Human Torch and The Thing, set to join the game on February 21, continues to elevate the experience. We also discussed the potential for a Nintendo Switch 2 release with Wu and Koo, details of which you can find in our related article.