With 10 million players over a short weekend and a peak of nearly 440,000 simultaneous players, Marvel Rivals can be considered one of the great successes of 2024. This positions the latest game from Chinese company NetEase as the new Overwatch, with the clear advantage of featuring Marvel heroes. The success has not gone unnoticed by Blizzard Entertainment and its former CEO, Mike Ybarra, who is struggling to acknowledge the achievement of Marvel Rivals. Ybarra contends that Marvel Rivals is merely a pale imitation of Overwatch, suggesting that Chinese developers only copy others and citing Light of Motiram as an example. However, Ybarra quickly undermines his own argument by pointing out that the Widowmaker character in Overwatch bears resemblance to Black Widow in Marvel Rivals.
Marvel Rivals, developed by NetEase, is set to release tomorrow and bears a strong resemblance to Overwatch. This follows similar patterns seen with other titles from China, such as Light of Motiram, which closely mirrors Horizon Zero Dawn. Even character names like Widowmaker in Overwatch and Black Widow in Marvel Rivals draw comparisons. Notably, both NetEase and Tencent are prominent companies in the Chinese gaming industry.
It is evident that there are numerous similarities between Marvel Rivals and Overwatch. However, the comparison between Widowmaker and Black Widow reveals a significant misunderstanding, given that Widowmaker drew inspiration from Black Widow. A community note highlighted this issue, pointing out Mr. Ybarra’s oversight: “Natasha Romanoff, known as Black Widow, is a popular Marvel heroine who first appeared in comics in 1964, over 50 years before the creation of Overwatch and its character Widowmaker.” This message was intended to correct misinformation. Since then, Mike Ybarra has deleted his post, but it is well-known that the internet retains such information, particularly when many pointed out his double standards after he highlighted similarities between Path of Exile 2 and Diablo 4, another Blizzard Entertainment game. This is not an accusation of anti-Chinese racism on Mr. Ybarra’s part but rather a reflection of cultural preferences, which are quite evident…
In the meantime, the public serves as the primary judge and has recently shifted its focus from Overwatch to Marvel Rivals, which has gained significant popularity.
