In the esports era, while every other competitive game is trying to make its footprint in the esports scene, why would Marvel Rivals choose to stay behind? Recently, during the Q4 earnings call, NetEase Games officially announced that they thinking about entering into esports as a part of its growth strategy.
NetEase’s VP of Corporate Development revealed that they are going to release their esports agenda soon. Moreover, he claimed that their esports strategy will be future-proof as they will keep investing for more than a decade.
Marvel Rivals, especially after Season 1, has gained wide appraisal from worldwide players. And this is a product we’re going to keep investing both on development and marketing. And we do believe this product, we’re going to keep operating, keep enhancing, keep investing for 10 years and beyond.
Bill Pang, Vice President of Corporate Development at NetEase
NetEase has already announced Marvel Rivals Championship which is all set to start from 8th March with a $14,500 prize pool. According to the developers, this is just the starting, and in the future, the prize pool will only go up.
Marvel Rivals was launched last year becoming the direct competitor of Overwatch which has a stronghold in the esports scene. Previously, many Overwatch esports tournaments have seen a huge viewer count with more than 100k concurrent viewers. It means Marvel Rivals can gain a massive audience once they jump into esports.
Apart from that, Marvel Rivals has got a few advantages. One of them is the iconic characters like Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Doctor Strange in Marvel Rivals which has a separate fanbase around the world.
Also, Marvel Rivals has brought in “Team-Up Abilities”, where duos like Thor and Loki can combine powers for unique moves. In addition, Overwatch enforces role lock (2 DPS, 2 tanks, 2 supports), while Marvel Rivals keeps compositions flexible which can make players more creative with their abilities.
What do you think about Marvel Rivals’ esports debut? Can it compete with the ongoing esports titles? Also, are you rooting for Overwatch or Marvel Rivals? Let us know your opinion in the comment section below.