Marvel Rivals to last '10 years and beyond,' NetEase confirms crossover events, promos, esports

NetEase is ready to support Marvel Rivals for the long run as the company simultaneously shutters studios and cancels other projects.

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Gaming's new live service darling Marvel Rivals is doing incredibly well right now with over 40 million players to date. The game isn't without controversy though: despite the F2P shooter's mega success, NetEase laid off the Western team that worked on Marvel Rivals as part of its new restructuring plan (this same plan also saw NetEase cutting back investments in fledgling game studios and projects).

Now we have comments from NetEase on Marvel Rivals' performance and what's to come. The game has done so well that the billion-dollar Chinese games giant is ready to support Marvel Rivals for a full decade. Crossover events and promos are also coming, but we're not sure exactly what this means--will Rivals become the next Fortnite, or will the crossovers be in-universe?

In the Q&A portion of NetEase's Q4'24 earnings call, Vice President of Corporate Development Bill Pang said:

"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 in this product, we're going to keep operating, keep enhancing, keep investing for 10 years and beyond.

"To your question, yes, the team does have plans for eSports, and we're going to announce our eSports plans, and we hope to have this eSports plan to further enhance the overall gaming ecosystem.

"And to your question, yes, we're going to do a lot of crossover events and promotions with other media in the future. And this is a key product that we'll keep investing in."