Since its release in December 2024,Marvel Rivalshas quickly overwhelmed the hero shooter genre and easily become one of the most popular competitive games on the market. It appeals to Marvel Comics fans, as it perfectly brings many of the brand’s most iconic characters to life while also shining a light on underrated characters like Magik and Jeff the Land Shark. While the game’s main competition, Overwatch, has rebounded after a rough stretch, the Blizzard Entertainment genre mainstay still fails at the thing that Marvel Rivals does best.

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Marvel Rivals is impeccably balanced around the game’s character fantasies. While this can make the game feel frustrating at times and some of the characters are far stronger than others, this feels intentional on the part of Netease Games, as the game can be frustrating to play, but every character is amazingly designed and their kits feel entirely representative of the character. Overall, Marvel Rivals thrives where Overwatch does not because Netease Games perfectly designs its characters to feel like the superheroes they are in the comics, and more developers should balance their games around this concept in the future.

Marvel Rivals and Overwatch 2 Prove That Balancing a Hero Shooter Is Complex

Hero Shooters Are One of Gaming’s Most Competitive Genres for a Reason

Hero shooters are among the most difficult game types to balance. With a large roster of characters and diverse maps, the genre can be overwhelming for newcomers and frustrating for veteran players if balance issues persist. Ideally, every ranked season keeps multiple characters in each role viable, but this isn’t always possible. Some characters have kits that are difficult to design around, making them far stronger than others.

This issue isn’t unique to Marvel Rivals or Overwatch, and many games in the genre struggle with balance to varying degrees. In PvE settings, imbalance is less of a concern since players aren’t losing ranked points over a weak character. However, in PvP, an unbalanced meta can quickly become frustrating. To create a satisfying experience, developers must carefully analyze each character’s strengths and weaknesses, ensuring that every hero feels rewarding to play while maintaining a competitive balance that doesn’t alienate ranked players.

The other major component of balancing for the hero shooter genre has to do with the numerous maps and modes on which each match can be played. Marvel Rivals utilizes three different modes, and each one uses a different pool of maps. Making every map in a game feel satisfying to play on can be a difficult task, as the map needs to be structurally sound for balancing purposes while also not providing too many characters with an annoying environmental benefit. Some of the game’s maps can be incredibly annoying to play on, while others are amazingly well-designed and feature none of the annoying roadblocks and pitfalls that other maps have.

Overall, a hero shooter needs to be designed around its characters and balanced around them as well, with the maps as a secondary factor to increase game variance and excitement. When these two factors work together, the game feels well-balanced, even if its characters are a bit overturned, and this is exactly how Marvel Rivals has thrived for the past few months.

Marvel Rivals’ Characters Are Impeccably Balanced Around Their Superhero Origins

Amazing Character Fantasies Make Marvel Rivals Satisfying to Play

Image via NetEase Games

Currently, Marvel Rivals features over 30 characters across three different classes, and every one of them feels distinct. While the game arguably has too many duelists, the fact that no two characters play the same makes it easy for players to find someone that suits their preferences. Additionally, every role has multiple viable options, ensuring that players aren’t stuck if they can’t play their main role in a match.

This design helps prevent frustration when a favorite character isn’t available, and Netease Games has done an excellent job balancing Marvel Rivals around this concept. However, this doesn’t mean that every character is equally powerful. Some are significantly more well-rounded than others, making them stronger picks in competitive play.

Characters like Black Widow and Captain America, while perfectly capturing their aesthetics and superhero fantasies, fall into the bottom tier due to their specialized kits being outclassed by other heroes. Hawkeye is a far better long-range character than Black Widow, and shield tanks like Doctor Strange and Magneto offer better team protection than Captain America. Despite these tier differences, every character is carefully balanced within the game’s overall design. The developers’ vision ensures that each hero stays true to their fantasy, making them feel impactful and authentic, even if some are more effective in gameplay than others.

Unfortunately, not every competitive game succeeds in bringing its character fantasies to life. League of Legends, for example, has some characters that are beautifully designed around their lore, while others feel disconnected from it due to their in-game kits. Marvel Rivals, however, does not struggle in this area. Each character in Marvel Rivals faithfully uses their signature abilities from the comics while maintaining a power level that feels authentic within the game’s balance.

Deities like Loki and Hela wield powerful magic befitting their status, while non-superpowered characters like Hawkeye and The Punisher rely on their exceptional skill and vast arsenals to compete on an even playing field. Overall, Marvel Rivals excels at making every character feel rewarding to play, setting a standard that other competitive games could benefit from following.

Modern Games Should Follow Marvel Rivals’ Example

Developers Should Make Sure Every Character Is Appealing

In too many instances, AAA developers for competitive games will care about balancing their game around weapons and maps and then focus on the characters later. Because of this design philosophy, the characters of some games feel like an afterthought when compared to the game’s other mechanics. This approach can make characters feel secondary to the game’s mechanics, which prevents players from forming strong attachments to them and ultimately making the game feel dull over time. To avoid this pitfall, developers should take inspiration from Netease Games, which prioritizes character design from the start and focuses on balance after.

For this approach to become the industry standard, Netease Games must continue building on Marvel Rivals’ early success by designing each character with their superhero or supervillain origins in mind. By doing this, the game will continue to have amazing characters that fulfill the fantasy of their characters while also being a joy to play in their respective roles.

Furthermore, if Netease Games assigns a character to an unexpected role, they can demonstrate to other developers that creative choices can be more engaging than predictable ones. Sometimes, stepping away from the obvious option can lead to more compelling and memorable character designs. Overall, Netease Games has quickly made Marvel Rivals one of the most popular hero shooters ever created. Their character design philosophy sets a high bar that the rest of the competitive gaming industry would do well to follow.