Dataminers exploring the code of Marvel Rivals have stumbled upon lists of potential future characters, sparking speculation that the game's developers might be playing a clever game of cat and mouse. However, both NetEase and Marvel have dismissed these notions, emphasizing their focus on enhancing the game itself rather than engaging in any trolling activities.
The excitement began last month when dataminers unearthed names of possible future heroes in the game's code. Some of these, like members of the Fantastic Four, were quickly validated when officially announced. Yet, as more names surfaced, rumors swirled within the community suggesting that some could be deliberate red herrings planted by developers to throw dataminers off the scent.
The community remains divided on the authenticity of these datamined characters and their potential inclusion in the game. In a recent interview, we directly questioned Marvel Rivals producer Weicong Wu and Marvel Games executive producer Danny Koo about any alleged trolling. Wu clarified that while the development process involves extensive concept testing and prototyping, which might leave traces in the code, no deliberate pranks are at play. He advised caution when interpreting these findings, stating:
"So firstly, we want to say that we don't recommend anybody to make adjustments to the files [of the game]. Also, you can see that for each character's design, we actually come through a very complicated process and we make a lot of concepts, trials, prototypes, development, et cetera. So there could be some information left in the code, and it might mean that we have tried those directions and they may appear or may not appear in our future plans. And whether or not they will appear in our future pipeline is highly dependent on what kind of gameplay experience our players would expect in our game."
Koo echoed this sentiment, adding, "If I could have a ten-year plan, it'd be great. But the team experimented with a lot of play styles, heroes. It was like there's someone doing scratch paperwork and then just left a notebook there, and someone [a dataminer] decided to open it with no context."
When pressed on whether they were intentionally misleading players, Koo firmly stated, "No. We would rather spend our time developing the actual game."
In the same discussion, Wu and Koo shed light on the process of selecting new characters for Marvel Rivals. They revealed that updates are planned approximately a year in advance, with a new character added every month and a half. NetEase begins by identifying the type of character and skillset needed to maintain game balance and enrich the roster. Wu explained that their approach to balance involves introducing new characters and experiences rather than heavily tweaking existing ones. These ideas are then presented to Marvel Games for initial designs, taking into account community feedback and upcoming Marvel projects across various media to finalize the selection.
This comprehensive process explains the presence of numerous hero names in the game's code, as NetEase continually explores a wide array of possibilities. Marvel Rivals has been a hit since its launch, and the addition of new characters like the Human Torch and The Thing, set to join on February 21, only adds to its allure. Additionally, discussions with Wu and Koo touched on the potential for a Nintendo Switch 2 release of Marvel Rivals, details of which can be found in a separate article.
