Marvel Rivals update: Video game's new characters, maps, rewards. Here's what to know
Marvel fans and video game enthusiasts are eagerly awaiting the release of new content for a game that's only been on the market for a month.
On Friday, a game update full of new characters, maps and rewards will be released for Marvel Rivals, a third-person hero shooter game, in which users can play as popular Marvel superheroes and villains. The update is called, Season 1: Eternal Night Falls.
Released in December, Marvel Rivals has been quickly climbing video game charts. An official Discord server for the game has already reached more than 2.2. million members, making it the largest gaming server on the instant messaging platform, according to a Marvel news release.
As video game fans prepare for the weekend, here's what to know about the new Marvel Rivals content.
Marvel Rivals is a free, third-person hero shooter video game in which players compete on teams of two in various challenges within the Marvel Universe. Players can select from more than 30 superhero and villain characters, including Captain America, Spider-Man, Groot, Venmo, Thor and Wolverine.
Marvel Games and Chinese developer NetEast Games released Marvel Rivals in December.
Some video game experts compare Marvel Rivals to Overwatch, a free first-person hero shooter game. Players also compete in teams of two, and the game is set 60 years into the future of a fictionalized Earth. Overwatch was released by Blizzard (known for World of Warcraft) in 2016.
Marvel Rivals is available on PC through Steam, Epic Games Store and the Marvel Rivals website; PlayStation 5; and Xbox Series S and X.
Season 1: Eternal Night Falls for Marvel Rivals becomes available at midnight everywhere on Friday, Jan. 10.
In order to access the content associated with Season 1: Eternal Night Falls, players will need to update their Marvel Rivals games.
Season 1: Eternal Night Falls will introduce the Fantastic Four as playable characters. During the initial launch of the season, Invisible Woman and Mister Fantastic will be available to players. Later on, Human Torch and The Thing will become available, too, according to a Marvel news release.
Three new maps will also be added to the game as a part of the new season. According to a Marvel news release, the maps will include Empire of Eternal Night in New York City; Sanctum Sanctorum, Midtown; and Central Park.
A new game mode will also be unveiled as part of Season 1: Eternal Night Falls. In the new mode called Doom Match, eight to 12 players battle on one map, each person belonging to a different faction, with each faction hostile to the others, according to a Marvel news release. Players earn points by knocking out enemies and at the end of the match, the top 50% of the players are deemed winners.
The new season will include an event called Midnight Features. During the event, players complete seasonal activities to unlocked limited-time rewards, according to a Marvel news release.
Finally, Marvel Rivals is partnering with livestreaming platform Twitch to offer Twitch Drops. Twitch Drops are rewards earned when players watch another person play and stream the game on Twitch.
According to a Marvel news release, several updates to the base game will also be released on Friday, including enhancements to Vanguard characters, which are primarily used to protect other players, and Duelists, which are the main fighting characters.
The majority of the new content that debuts with Season 1: Eternal Night Falls for Marvel Rivals is free, but there is some content available for in-game purchase, too.
The Eternal Night Fall Battle Pass will be available for 990 Lattice, the game's currency. One thousand Lattice is equivalent to $9.99. According to a Marvel news release, the Eternal Night Fall Battle Pass includes 10 costumes, plus related content like sprays and emotes, ways for players to communicate with others in the game.
Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Follow her on X and Instagram @gretalcross. Story idea? Email her at [email protected].
Here’s The ‘Marvel Rivals’ Season 1 Release Date And Time, Plus New Trailer
We just got the first official trailer for Marvel Rivals’ first season, the blockbuster hit getting out of “season zero” and moving into its first official one with a boatload of new characters arriving, namely the entire Fantastic Four.
Along with the trailer, we also got perhaps the most important thing, confirmation of the season 1 release date and time. And so:
The official Marvel Rivals season 1 release date is Friday, January 10, 2025 at 1 AM PST, 4 AM EST. In other words, in the Americas you’ll be able to wake up that Friday morning and begin playing the new season. Here’s the new trailer:
The season is called “Eternal Night Falls” and features Dracula turning on a blood moon over the streets of New York City, which will be the new map. Facing off against him is the Fantastic Four, Mr. Fantastic, The Invisible Woman, The Thing and Human Torch. We still don’t know their confirmed roles nor do we have confirmation they are doing a two-at-launch and two-in-midseason release the way leaks have indicated. But between today and Friday we will no doubt get a lot more information. Here’s the official synopsis for the story of the season in a game where story is…let’s say, not exactly the focus:
“Darkness engulfs New York as the Timestream Entanglement leaves Doctor Strange trapped in the Entangled Astral Plane, scattering the Darkhold pages. Dracula and Doctor Doom disrupt the moon’s orbit, plunging the city into eternal night and unleashing an army of vampiric creatures. With the world on the brink, the Fantastic Four join forces with iconic Marvel heroes, standing together in the epic battle to break the mystical darkness with science. Ignite the battle against Dracula with the Fantastic Four in Marvel Rivals!”
The appearance of Dracula of course strongly indicates that vampire hunter Blade, already a datamined character, is going to be showing up. This season, for five characters in one season?” That seems unlikely, but maybe he shows up in the finale to cut Dracula down and arrive for the season 2 launch. I just don’t get how we’d be doing a Dracula plot here and not have Blade show up sooner rather than later.
Over the next few days I would expect featurettes for the Fantastic Four and blog posts about other additions and changes that are coming. Leaks indicate nerfs to characters like Hela and Hawkeye, and buffs to Captain America, Venom and others. More to talk about soon.
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‘Marvel Rivals’ Reveals Season 1 Battle Pass Skins, Confirmed Nerfs And Buffs
Marvel Rivals has just released an eleven minute long developer insight video about season 1, arriving on Friday, January 10, and with it a whole lot of information about the new season, some confirming leaks, others with brand new info.
A lot still to go through, expect a bunch more reveals throughout this week with a special focus on Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman movesets specifically. Not sure if they’ll do the other two or just wait until they’re actually out. They may do a more detailed map runthrough as well. There was close to zero actual footage in this developer video so no doubt that more of that will be coming soon.
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Here Are All The ‘Marvel Rivals’ Season 1 Battle Pass Skins
Marvel Rivals season 1 arrives this Friday, January 10, but a select group of high profile creators got their hands on the new content early, and on stream, we got to see things like Mr. Fantastic and The Invisible Woman on display.
But we also got a look at the season 1 battle pass, which has a full 10 different skins in addition to all its other items for just $10. Now, thanks to these streams, we have the full roster of skins here, almost all of which are vampire-themed, and you can check out below:
Rocket Raccoon - Bounty Hunter
Scarlet Witch - Emporium Matron
Adam Warlock - Blood Soul
Iron Man - Blood Edge Armor
Namor - Savage Sub-Mariner
Peni Parker - Blue Tarantula
Loki - All-Butcher
Moon Knight - Blood Moon Knight
Magneto - King Magnus
Wolverine - Blood Berserker
As you can see, it’s quite the selection. Rivals has also gotten a lot of attention for its first two Reed and Sue skins that will be available in the shop which include an...eye-catching outfit for Invisible Woman specifically. But these ten skins? Only $10 in a game where most skins would be more like $15-20. Quite a deal, and a game like say, Fortnite, does not have that many skins in its battle pass.
In addition to all these skins, this is also a battle pass that does not expire if you buy it, so you will be able to unlock them at your own pace in the future. It’s a real player-forward system and though Rivals didn’t invent it (thank you Halo Infinite) it’s certainly great to see it employed here.
The battle pass also lets you unlock 600 Lattice and 600 Units if you complete it, so you will be well on your way to either next season’s battle pass, or another skin if you want it. Be forewarned though, NetEase has said that future seasons are not going to be as huge as season 1, so we may not get this many skins next time.
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