Next week, two new characters are coming to Marvel Rivals – but also a rather controversial rank drop.
Only published in December 2024, Marvel Rivals is still in its first season – now, they've announced a mid-season rank reset. Everything that's been said so far:
Details On The Rank Drop
Marvel Rivals, Marvel's Super Hero Team-based PVP Shooter, is reaching half-time of its first season and, with that, the dev diaries just announced that there will be a mid-season rank reset that wasn't initially planned:
After careful observations and consideration, we have concluded that players' ranks during the first half of Season 1 are the best indicator of their competitive skills within the season. So, we will be introducing additional rank reset to better align with the upcoming content and changes!
The first half of season 1 ends February 21 at 8:00 (UTC+0), which is also when your rank locks in and drops again. Don't panic, though: Your rank won't be erased entirely, but you will drop by four divisions based on where you stand by the time the season's first half ends.
There is also a free reward for anyone who's a gold rank or higher when the ranks are locked in, as stated in the dev diaries:
Players at Gold rank or above (season high) will receive a costume reward, and players at Grandmaster rank or above along with the Top 500 will obtain Crest of Honor.
However, in upcoming seasons, there will be further conditions on these rewards:
Starting from the second half of Season 1, players will need to complete at least 10 matches in competitive mode and meet the required conditions to claim their rewards.
In the future, Marvel Rivals plans to make you drop by four divisions at the half-time of each season and six divisions whenever a new season starts. However, this reset system doesn't seem to be set in stone, as the developers say that they intend to "tune this as necessary".
Mixed Opinions In The Community
On the game's Steam page, there are mixed reactions to this announcement:
If you cant climb back up to diamond you dont belong there - OMEGA
It's going to completely destroy competitive. What it means is that the low ranks will be packed full of players at all skill levels, so matches there are going to be completely unbalanced and miserable. - Mitrovarr
Presumably, the reactions might be less negative if the announcement was less sudden - Marvel Rivals is still a rather new game, and people who recently started and don't have enough time to still reach gold are now being set back without a reward.
In future seasons, the rank drop will already be common knowledge and won't be announced a week before it takes place, so players will know how much time they have to reach the rank that gives them the rewards they want.
Two New Characters
But there's also more positive news: Two new characters will also be added next week! The Thing and the Human Torch will finally become playable characters. This will complete The Fantastic Four after Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman were added in January.
The exact details on the new characters haven't been confirmed yet, but it is suspected in the community that The Thing will be playable as a new Vanguard, while the Human Torch is rumored to be a ranged Duelist. As with every character, both of them will have unique abilities fitting their comic superpowers.
What's your opinion on the rather last-minute rank drop announcement? What other characters would you like to see in the game? Let us know in the comments!
