Marvel Rivals Dev Shuns Dataminer Trolling

Marvel Rivals dataminers believe developers are playfully misleading them with lists of potential future characters hidden within the game's code. However, NetEase and Marvel claim their focus lies on game development, not elaborate pranks.

Last month, dataminers uncovered potential hero names within Marvel Rivals' code, some of which were quickly confirmed with the Fantastic Four's official announcement. However, as the list grew, speculation arose that some names were intentionally misleading.

Currently, the community debates the authenticity of these datamined characters. We directly questioned Marvel Rivals producer Weicong Wu and Marvel Games executive producer Danny Koo about this alleged "troll." While denying any deliberate deception, they advised caution regarding the code's contents. Wu explained that the extensive character design process—involving concepts, trials, and prototypes—might leave residual data in the code. The inclusion of these characters in future updates depends heavily on player feedback and desired gameplay experiences. Koo likened the situation to finding an unfinished notebook of brainstorming ideas. He emphasized their priority is game development, not elaborate trolling.

We also discussed character selection for Marvel Rivals. Updates are planned roughly a year in advance, maintaining a release schedule of approximately one new character every six weeks. NetEase prioritizes balancing the game's roster by assessing the need for specific character types and skill sets. Their strategy focuses on adding new characters rather than extensively tweaking existing ones, aiming to maintain freshness, address weaknesses, and counter overly powerful characters.

NetEase presents these suggestions to Marvel Games, considering community interest and aligning with Marvel's broader plans, such as upcoming films or comic arcs. This explains the numerous hero names in the code – a reflection of NetEase's ongoing brainstorming.

Marvel Rivals launched successfully, and each new character enhances the game. The Human Torch and The Thing are slated to join the roster on February 21st. We also discussed the potential for a Nintendo Switch 2 release, details of which can be found elsewhere.