‘Marvel Rivals’ Free-to-Play Game Featuring Rocket Raccoon, Spider-Man, Magneto, Magik and 12 More Characters to Launch in May

A new free-to-play Marvel Games PC title, Marvel Rivals, will launch in May. When it debuts, players will be able to take on the roles of 18 iconic superhero and supervillain Marvel characters, with more to come in later game updates.

The initial roster available to players with the closed alpha version in May (exact release date TBD) will include Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Groot, Hulk, Iron Man, Loki, Luna Snow, Magik, Magneto, Mantis, Namor, Peni Parker, Rocket Raccoon, Scarlet Witch, Spider-Man, Storm, Star-Lord and The Punisher.

Per China-based “Marvel Rivals” developer NetEase Games, the superhero team-based shooter will let players “assemble an ever-evolving all-star squad of superheroes and supervillains while battling with unique superpowers across a dynamic lineup of destructible maps from across the Marvel Multiverse.”

Here’s the description for the game: “‘Marvel Rivals’ features a storyline crafted by the NetEase writing team where the merciless clash between the tyrannical dictator Doctor Doom and his future counterpart from the year 2099 has forced countless universes to collide in the Timestream Entanglement, creating new worlds and crises still unknown. Now, superheroes and supervillains from across the multiverse must fight together and against one another as disparate groups seek to defeat both Dooms before one achieves domination of these realities.”

Marvel and NetEase promise “robust” post-launch updates to come after the launch, with seasonal drops that add new characters, as well as additional maps and content.

The new Marvel title is the latest version of a superhero vs. villain mashup from the Disney brand, which launched the mobile game “Marvel: Contest of Champions” nearly 10 years ago.

“’Marvel Rivals’ is one of our most ambitious game development projects,” head of Marvel Games Jay Ong said. “Since the conceptualization of the game and throughout our collaboration, our Marvel team has poured our hearts and souls into this project, and we are thrilled to work with the incredible team at NetEase Games to help deliver the ultimate superhero team-based PVP shooter.”

“Superhero teams are also a little like family and often team up to defeat evil together,” NetEase Games director Thaddeus Sasser told Variety. “In ‘Marvel Rivals,’ you can likewise use team-up abilities with your friends and teammates to super-charge attacks or defenses and turn the tide of the battle together. For example, play as Rocket Raccoon and ride on your buddy Groot’s shoulders as you charge into battle together. Maybe you want to use Doctor Strange’s portal power to allow the Punisher to fire his turret through it, raining fire down on the unsuspecting enemies through the portal. There are tons of known combinations and a few hidden ones…explore the game to find them all and help make sure your team is the ultimate victor.”

View the trailer for “Marvel Rivals” below.