With Marvel’s massive size and influence, it’s little surprise that Marvel Rivals has already received its first of many crossover events. Having blown up with nearly half a million players on PC alone, Marvel Rivals has been a hit with both fans of the franchise and new players looking for a unique hero shooter experience. While Marvel Rivals more than delivers on the gameplay side of things, its first collaboration missed the mark on capturing the excitement of its new release.
The Marvel company is no stranger to crossovers and collaborations over the years, with each of their film or video game projects being filled with Easter eggs or nods to other titles. While nods to other IPs are a fun inclusion for fans, they lack the excitement of the full-blown crossover events that are widely popular in the live service market. While Marvel Rival s will undoubtedly have more collaborations in the future, it’s off to a bit of a weak start with their latest Fortnite crossover event.
The First Collaboration Isn’t Even Available In Marvel Rivals
A Drop In The Bucket For Fortnite’s Collaboration Content
As a part of Marvel Rivals’ promotional content to celebrate and entice players into trying it out at launch, from now until January 6th, as shown by HYPEX on X. Players that complete 10 full matches will be eligible for a free Galacta-themed glider in Fortnite. Alongside this free cosmetic, players can purchase a new futuristic Dr. Doom 2099 skin bundle or a Galacta-themed pickaxe. While these are a fun addition for Fortnite fans, they don’t include any actual content in Marvel Rivals, which is a missed opportunity to start new players off with a free in-game cosmetic incentive.
While the Galacta Glider is only one of the many items crossing over from the iconic battle royale and Marvel’s growing roster of heroes, it doesn’t do much to stand out from the pack. The recent Absolute Doom event in Fortnite featured a wide array of additions from the franchise with weapons, skins, characters, and more, with all this past content making the Galacta Glider seem like a second-thought addition in comparison.
While the event was likely to incentivize Fortnite players to try out Marvel Rivals for themselves to earn the cosmetic, the complete absence of rewards in Marvel Rivals itself is a major letdown.
How Marvel Rivals Can Make The Next Crossover Even Better
Taking Inspiration From The Competiton While Staying True To Its Identity
Marvel Rivals’ future collaborations are more likely to be in-house than anything else, with a vast array of potential skins and character variations from comic book history. While there’s plenty to choose from, it’s hard not to get excited over the concept of iconic Marvel characters like Iron Man and Venom sporting outfits from universes beyond the world of Marvel Rivals.
Thankfully for fans, it’s unlikely that the creators of Marvel Rival will ignore players’ growing demand for this kind of crossover content, best seen in Fortnite’s surging popularity of collaborative characters.
Related
Other Games Should Learn From Marvel Rivals’ New Battle Pass
Marvel Rivals is already making waves in the hero shooter scene, with this minor change giving the game a huge advantage over the competition.
Overwatch 2 has already seen massive success with its crossover skin lines, like the My Hero Academia crossover selling remarkably well, being a likely candidate to make its way into Marvel Rivals, given that Marvel has already collaborated with MHA in the past.
The biggest challenge for including crossover content in Marvel Rivals is ensuring it keeps up with the level of detail and quality the game offers. Compared to competitors like Overwatch, Marvel Rivals has a much smaller catalog of skins and microtransactions at launch, with each having a much higher level of quality as a result. Given Marvel Rivals’ focus on quality over quantity, any collaboration events will have to work towards fitting the game’s unique art style while staying true to the game’s comic book inspirations.
Source: HYPEX/X
Third-Person Shooter
Action
Multiplayer
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer , Online Co-Op
- Number of Players
- 1-6