Some Carnage

Marvel Rivals launched with massive momentum in December 2024, but over a year later, its player numbers have dropped sharply. While live-service games naturally lose some of their launch audience, many players feel the bigger issue is balance. A pattern has formed where new heroes arrive overtuned, dominate the meta, then get nerfed after weeks of frustration. Elsa Bloodstone’s controversial launch is just the latest example, following similar cycles with Daredevil and Gambit. The growing imbalance between Duelists and the smaller Vanguard and Strategist rosters has narrowed team compositions and made competitive play feel repetitive. At the same time, NetEase’s promise of one new hero per month may be adding pressure to a balance system that can’t keep up, since characters are finalized months in advance. With competitors like Overwatch regaining momentum and Deadlock building steady support, players feel NetEase needs to slow down, rebalance the roster, and address the long-term health of the game before more of the community walks away.