The Marvel Rivals team has been praised for bringing such a varied amount of heroes to the game – but given the vast variation in their unique abilities, it presents a difficult balancing act. Few heroes play exactly the same with the team working hard to reflect every character’s unique abilities in the multiplayer shooter, and that can cause some issues.

As game director Guangyun Chen explained in an interview with FRVR, the key is to focus on identifying the defining characters of each hero. “We have always follow one guiding principle: when players experience a new hero, they should say, ‘Wow, this is Daredevil, this is Iron Man, this is Spider-Man,’ he told us.

Speaking about the development of Daredevil, a character that is completely blind outside of a specific range, Chen detailed how the team went about bringing the character to the game in a way that reflected his comic book counterpart.

“With this in mind, we focus on selecting one unique aspect for design—his lack of vision, which instantly evokes the hero in people’s minds—and integrated it with the hero abilities,” Chen said. “After the launch, we were delighted to see that players really liked our design, and we are very proud of that.”

He continued: “The blind spot system uses a defined radius: inside this radius, vision is normal; outside it is the blind zone. However, we’ve augmented this blind zone with a radar sense ability. Based on our gameplay tests, we’ve set this radius to 30M, which is the engagement radius where most heroes pose the greatest threat.

“For enemies in the blind zone outside this radius, Daredevil – with his unique Radar Sense – is designed to be a proactive hunter. This is realized through his F ability, Sonic Pursuit, a targeted hunting mechanic. Combined with his mobility and active defense skills, he is equipped to actively close the distance and pull enemies into his optimal combat radius.”

We have always follow one guiding principle: when players experience a new hero, they should say, ‘Wow, this is Daredevil, this is Iron Man, this is Spider-Man

Marvel Rivals game director Guangyun Chen

Chen explained that the team’s goal is to balance IP authenticity with actual gameplay experience, but admitted that adapting many heores to the gameplay can be ‘quite challenging’. “Jeff the Land Shark’s Ultimate ability, which interacts with the skill releases of other heroes, presented significant difficulties for our programming and testing teams during development,” he explained. “However, in Marvel Rivals, our primary focus has always been on effectively showcasing the superpowers of superheroes within the game.

“To achieve this goal, we tackle all challenges head-on. As a result, players can witness Spider-Man swinging through the air and Doctor Strange using his portals, along with a variety of imaginative and challenging super abilities throughout the game.”

The dev also revealed that thanks to the hardware challenges of bringing Marvel Rivals to PS4 it helped drive performance boosts across all platforms. “Overall, the experience of porting to the PS4 has been incredibly rewarding,” he told us. “We not only brought the game to a wider audience but also gained invaluable development experience for multiple devices.”