Since Marvel Rivals launched, there have been conversations about the NetEase title, which eventually led to the death of OG hero shooter Overwatch by Blizzard.
As it turns out, even the devs at Overwatch are worried, and they’ve confirmed that they’ve found themselves trying harder ever since the Marvel-themed Overwatch clone came out in December.
“This is No Longer about Playing It Safe”
In a recent talk with GamesRadar (via VGC), Overwatch 2 director Aaron Keller shared, “We’re obviously in a new competitive landscape that I think, for Overwatch, we’ve never really been in before, to this extent where there’s another game that’s so similar to the one that we’ve created… We think it’s a forcing function to our team – this is no longer about playing it safe.”
With some fans criticizing Blizzard for being unable to live up to all the promises of Overwatch 2, Keller has confirmed that the competition with Marvel Rivals has even resulted in the developers pushing out long-gestating projects. Keller continues:
“A lot of the things that we’re announcing for seasons 15 and 16, like perks and Stadium, they’re things that have been in development for Overwatch for quite some time. And I think what’s driving that is, when we look at our game, we feel like it’s either missing something or it hasn’t evolved as much as it should have.”
Unfulfilled Promises
Whereas players see Marvel Rivals as having great potential, Overwatch 2 has let many of its fans down, especially since the developers promised a lot of content that was scrapped or canceled.
Regardless, Keller is aware of how the fans feel and just hopes they see how hard they’re working on Overwatch 2. He continues, “I understand, you know? … They thought that the game was going to be something that it didn’t end up being. I get the criticism, but from the team’s point of view, the only thing that we can do about that now is to make the best version of this game that we can.”
The Current Landscape
For now, it seems like the popularity of Overwatch 2 and Marvel Rivals has been playing seesaw with each other for the past few weeks. Marvel Rivals gets great views whenever a new character or cosmetic drops, and weeks later, Overwatch does some big reveals and gains a lot of Twitch streamers.
It’s too early to say which franchise will eventually come on top, but so far, it’s apparent that Overwatch 2 isn’t going to go down without a fight. Sure, Marvel Rivals has the power of a popular IP by its side, but Overwatch has been doing this hero shooter game for years, and the devs have come out with a ton of experience with what works and what doesn’t. Marvel Rivals admittedly has the advantage of learning from OW’s mistakes.
Overwatch 2 is now available for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation 4|5. Marvel Rivals is now playable for Xbox Series X|S, PC, and PS5.