The Marvel Rivals developers changed the rules regarding the controversial mid-season reset in just under 24 hours, and I couldn’t be more thrilled by their flexible response.
On Feb. 10, the developers shared an update detailing a mid-season rank reset that would drop players’ rank by four divisions on the 21st. This upset the majority of the Rivals’ player base, considering that the battle pass still has two months left and that ranked players had already dropped seven divisions when the season started just a month prior.
After a massive outcry from the community, the developers listened to player criticisms and immediately addressed these concerns. Their most recent developer update shared that there would be no mid-season rank resets in the game’s future, and players will still be able to receive mid-season ranked rewards for hitting gold and higher.
Personally, I think every competitive video game should have ranked resets because they make the game feel fresh, give players something to grind for, and keep the best players at the top. But the developers’ previous update included way too many resets. As someone who spent this season playing regularly to reach Diamond, I am thrilled that all my progress and hard work won’t be washed away every month just because the developers said so.
It looks like I’m not the only one who is loving the feedback from the developers, as netizens all across the internet are celebrating these speedy changes. “It feels like getting hit by a semi-truck,” Eskay, a famous Overwatch 2 and Rivals streamer, proclaimed in response to the news. The streamer, who loves playing both games, felt it was refreshing to see the Rivals development team act so fast, especially because she feels that Overwatch developers take significantly longer to listen to feedback.
This almost instantaneous response to players’ feedback and opinions from the developers reminds me just how special it feels when a team listens to their players and makes changes as fast as feasibly possible. While changing a rank reset doesn’t require much time and effort to push out, it shows that the developers behind Rivals are not afraid of changing their minds on important decisions.
After all, while video games do immerse players in fantastical worlds filled with fun and wonder, they are still designed as financial products. As players, we are the customers who play these products for hours on end, meaning we should have some input into the direction and shape of the game. This involves speaking up when we feel something isn’t right or fighting back against bad updates with our wallets.
Even though the situations are vastly different, I can’t help but compare this scenario with the avalanche of negative community feedback the developers of League are facing after removing Hextech chests. While the League situation is infinitely more complicated and involves an entire monetary system, just look at how players have replied to the developer update on the Marvel Rivals subreddit. “Wow a company that listens. Might buy a skin now,” an elated user replied to the announcement, proving that meeting your players in the middle can increase satisfaction and sales at the same time.
Now that we’ve all celebrated these changes, it’s time to boot up the game, ban Wolverine and Storm, and keep on grinding.
Published: Feb 12, 2025 05:41 am