Summary
Overwatch 2developers have officially shared their opinion onMarvel Rivals, saying they are looking forward to learning from their game’s new competitor. Though theOverwatch 2devs couldn’t outright talk aboutMarvel Rivalsfor obvious reasons, it seems like they hope to learn from the journey and success of the upcoming hero shooter.
Marvel Rivalsis a new hero shooter being developed by Marvel Entertainment and NetEase Games. Since its announcement in March, it has been clear that it andOverwatch 2shared similar DNA and that it would quickly become one of Blizzard’s biggest competitors. So far, reports from the game’s playtests have been promising, with theMarvel Rivalsclosed beta being a huge hit among fans.
Now,Overwatch 2has broken the silence on its newest competition. During a discussion withOverwatch 2content creators Flats and SVB for the Group Up! podcast, lead hero designer Alec Dawson and game director Aaron Keller addressed a question pertaining to what they could learn from “Overwatchclones” likeMarvel Rivals. While he deliberately avoided talking aboutMarvel Rivalsdirectly, Keller said it would “be interesting to see how these other games change over time” and looked forward to watching and learning from it as it developed, especially as it tackles other issuesOverwatch 2has encountered. The full segment begins at 1:21:40 during the Group Up! podcast.
Dawson then followed up with some thoughts of his own. “Competition is good. It’s healthy, and it starts to crystalize what makes your game special, too. It helps you hyper-focus on those things,” he said, “And it makes it clear to players and yourselves what are the competitive advantages that you have over other games.” While he cites the love and care put into its heroes as one of the things that makesOverwatch 2special, he seemed excited to see how games likeMarvel Rivalswill compare and contrast to it – and that having competition will make their game better in the long run.
UntilMarvel Rivalsofficially comes out in 2025, it will be hard to tell exactly how it will measure up toOverwatch 2. It is possible some players will leaveOverwatch 2in favor of the new game, though undoubtedly some will prefer the Blizzard shooter overMarvel Rivals, while others will jump between the two. Either way, fans of hero shooters will benefit the most, as having competition will hopefullyimprove bothOverwatch 2andMarvel Rivals.
“Competition is good. It’s healthy, and it starts to crystalize what makes your game special, too. It helps you hyper-focus on those things… And it makes it clear to players and yourselves what are the competitive advantages that you have over other games.”
The Group Up! podcast interview had tons of other interesting information in it, including confirmation thatLifeweaver is getting some buffs in the nextOverwatch 2updateand that the originalOverwatchwas almost a 7v7 game. BetweenMarvel Rivalsand the upcoming 6v6 and other gameplay experiments, it is safe to sayOverwatch 2might look a lot different by this time next year.
Overwatch 2
WHERE TO PLAY
Overwatch 2 is an always-on and ever-evolving free-to-play, team-based action game set in an optimistic future, where every match is the ultimate 5v5 battlefield brawl. Power up your railgun and disrupt the battlefield as Sojourn, or yield your axe and command attention as Junker Queen. Battle to take control of a robot and move it toward the enemy base in the new Push Mode. Bring the fight to new destinations across the globe in iconic locations like New York, Rome, Monte Carlo and Rio. Daily challenges and frequent updates mean there is always something new to play.
