Marvel Rivals Debuts Birnin T'Challa Map & New Black Panther Skin

King of Wakanda and current heir to the mantle of Black Panther, T'Challa, was recently featured in the latest IGN showcase, which announced a new location coming to Marvel Rivals. The Birnin T'Challa is the first playable map for this location, which has three regions for teams to battle across, with the Black Panther leading the tour, but a related surprise was awaiting in the wings.

Developer NetEase Games chose King T'Challa, the Black Panther, as the featured character for its latest Rivals Assemble character promo video, and as expected, it was also the spotlighted hero for its latest daily announcement (h/t Miller Ross). And akin to past announcements, the Black Panther is gaining a new cosmetic for players to unlock at launch, and much like the mantle, this skin was chosen for him by the deity Bast, highlighting the character's "prehistoric prowess."

The latest IGN First showcase provided players a first-look tour of the Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda location and the Birnin T'Challa map. Based on the footage, the map features three distinct regions, the Imperial Institute of Science, the Stellar Spaceport, and Warrior Falls, all beautifully designed, and the developer paid particular attention to detail.

From the expansive vista from Warrior Falls to the Bast plushie in Shuri's bedroom, all exquisitely reflecting the strong Afro-Futurism inspirations seen throughout the map. While it's unclear if the map will be available upon its release, what will be the brand-new cosmetic for Black Panther that will launch alongside the game is a skin that has been personally chosen by the Wakandan deity Bast.

The Bast's Chosen skin for Black Panther becomes available at launch on 6th December 2024, and the skin inspiration is lifted from its comic book appearance in Marvel Legacy (2017) #1. We are still unsure how players can obtain this skin, but we'll update this page and several others as we get closer to its release for consoles and PCs.