It’s been over six months since Marvel Rivals has captivated the Hero Shooter player base with its charm. The strong lineup featuring Marvel characters and a classic touch of 6v6 gave a decent touch to its gameplay loop. Moreover, the exciting comic-based and original skins of Psylocke, Luna Snow, Moon Knight, and more have also attracted a huge chunk.
While players are pretty much satisfied with a bunch of cosmetics so far, the same can’t be said for a few existing and upcoming ones, as they have already caused massive chaos inside the community. The cosmetics are supposed to be vibrant, unique, and give us a great visual experience. Instead, those cosmetics just showcase NetEase’s lazy and low-effort attitude towards it. Don’t we deserve something better than that?
The new cosmetics just aren’t cutting it for Marvel Rivals fans
Yes, you’ve heard it right. Marvel Rivals‘ official X account recently unveiled two Hero skins: Majestic Raiment Thor and a Daredevil: Born Again Punisher costume. And that’s when the mayhem started. While Thor’s attire looks rather raiment, Punisher’s skin isn’t really up to the mark.
Right after the X post, players have been quick enough to compare them with the default Punisher skin. According to some fans, that’s just another upgraded variant of his default skin in-game. Moreover, the upcoming skins are locked behind a heavy paywall, leaving players even more frustrated.
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Based on NetEase’s information, the Punisher skin is heavily inspired by Marvel’s recent Daredevil: Born Again series. While it does resemble Jon Bernthal’s attire in the series, a trench coat suit would’ve added an extra layer of excitement for fans.
u/LineRepresentative19 took the issue further by showcasing Venom’s Tickle Me Pink emote. Anybody can tell that the emote preview was quite misleading. Based on what we see in the preview section, Venom is supposed to turn pink in color. However, in reality, nothing happens at all. Instead of turning pink dynamically, Venom covers himself with a hint of pink in Marvel Rivals.
No this new emote in fact does not change the Venom skin dynamically. byu/LineRepresentative19 inmarvelrivals
That showcases false advertising, and the developers barely scratched the surface with low effort towards the title’s cosmetics. But when we, as consumers, are paying handsome amounts for the cosmetics, don’t we deserve something original?
NetEase is probably taking its player base for granted
There might be a disconnect between NetEase devs and players | Image Credit: NetEase Games
It goes without saying that the sentiment is becoming prevalent across the Marvel Rivals community. Players are complaining across various social media platforms about different issues. Even in 2025, players are going through issues like facing smurfs, daily toxicity, no proper optimization, and whatnot. However, when it comes to cosmetics, it becomes unbearable.
Players don’t mind paying hefty amounts for Battle Pass if it’s worthy enough, but would they pay the same for almost identical skins with different coloring or design? Of course not, right? Releasing and locking those low-effort skins under a hefty paywall might reflect NetEase as a money-making giant.
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While tons of complaints are piling up across social media, NetEase developers are yet to take a meaningful approach to make some changes. Some players might stick around for a bit for the love of the Marvel franchise, but for how long? The player base wants to see some changes in NetEase’s working principles. It seems Marvel IP is not enough to make them stay.
What are your thoughts on this matter? Should NetEase change its way of implementing cosmetics and other gameplay loops in Rivals? Let us know in the comments.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
