Even Marvel Rivals‘ Seasonal Events Are Overwatch Knock-Offs

Look, I know half the conversation around Marvel Rivals is taken up with comparing it to its obvious inspiration, Overwatch 2, but sometimes it’s hard to talk about much else when developer NetEase continues to copy Overwatch 2’s homework and makes little effort to hide it. Not only does this hold true when you compare the games’ general structures and several hero kits, but now it’s also very obvious in Rivals’ new seasonal events. The Spring Festival starts on Thursday, January 23, and is basically an amalgamation of Overwatch’s Lunar New Year and Lucioball events.

The Spring Festival includes three skins—one each for Star-Lord, Iron Fist, and Black Widow—as well as a new mode called Clash of Dancing Lions that looks like 3v3 soccer, similar to Lucioball. Each of the skins includes nods to traditional Chinese attire, and the event incorporates iconography befitting a celebration of the Chinese New Year which, this year, lands on January 29. NetEase is a Chinese company so it makes sense that the holiday would be celebrated in-game, but given the constant heat Marvel Rivals is getting for being derivative of Overwatch, I’m surprised that celebration looks so similar to what Overwatch has been doing since 2017. Ultimately, however, it probably doesn’t matter given that Marvel Rivals has been eating Overwatch’s lunch as of late. Check out the full trailer below, which showcases all three skins and the Clash of Dancing Lions mode.

According to the description, the Star-Lord cosmetics will be earnable as free rewards rather than something you’ll have to pay for in the shop. I’ll stick with the Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 one I bought, but thanks for the little treat.

All of this is happening in the midst of Marvel Rivals’ Season 1, which has added two Fantastic Four heroes so far and will be introducing the others in a future update. For now, I’m swinging my elastic arms around as Mister Fantastic and racking up kills despite everyone trying to tell me he’s one of the worst characters in the game. Skill issue.