Marvel Rivals’ continuous success since launching almost two years ago has had a number of reasons behind it.
Marvel and its characters are probably the single biggest reason for the game’s sustained popularity, along with its Overwatch-like game types and steady updates. But really, who am I kidding, it’s all about the skins and microtransactions. And the suite of new skins launching this week may be the biggest drop yet.
Four Marvel Cinematic Universe costumes will be coming to the in-game shop on July 27 at 9pm CT, and they’re some heavy-hitters: Spider-Man and Hulk as they appear in the new Spider-Man: Brand New Day movie, Scarlet Witch as she appeared in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Winter Soldier’s appearance from Captain America: The Winter Soldier (for my money, one of the best comic book films ever made, period).
These skins are going to sell like mad, and the fact that they’re all coming at the same time makes for the most lethal store update in the game’s history. Spider-Man and Hulk are two of the “big three” in Marvel (along with Wolverine), and the first new Spidey film in almost five years is set to crack the box office wide open this weekend. Scarlet Witch is a massively popular hero in the game (Ultron is getting a movie skin you can earn, too), and Bucky’s outfit from The Winter Soldier is arguably his best look ever.
Say what you want about microtransactions, but they allow a game like this to continue to remain free-to-play. You can even amass currencies by playing the game and save them up to buy one you’re waiting for, so I genuinely don’t mind them. And as a Marvel fan, it’s just exciting to see the crossover content between Marvel Studios and Marvel Games.
I have early access to see Brand New Day tomorrow night, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see some players check out Marvel Rivals after seeing it themselves.
