Marvel Rivals Dev Outlines Maintenance Plans In New Developer Talk Post

A new Developer Talk blog post was released hours before developer NetEase Games announced that a patch update would be available for consoles and PCs. While details on what new changes, bug fixes, adjustments, and optimizations were included in the latest patch notes, the Developer Talk post discusses their maintenance plans for future updates coming to Marvel Rivals.

The purpose of the latest Developer Post details how the developer will be providing support for the superhero team-based PvP shooter which they noted that "the launch version includes loads of new content, and despite our best efforts, we couldn't make it flawless." As they believe "that long-term maintenance and operations are the foundation for making an online game better," through player feedback and submitted bug reports, they're moving forward in resolving pressing key issues first and will address other issues in subsequent patch updates.

The eighth Developer Talk edition mainly focused on maintenance and support for Marvel Rivals, as the first post-launch patch update was released on 10th December 2024. On the back of reaching a monumental milestone of welcoming 10 million players to the game within 72 hours of its release, the developer informed players of the "different update scenarios" they'll be utilizing moving forward so that players remain in the loop on what type of update will be rolled out for consoles and PCs.

Firstly, hotfixes will be implemented to address specific issues in the background, whether it's for consoles, PCs, or all platforms, without disrupting "the player experience." The developer added that utilizing hotfixes will be prioritized for urgent issues that significantly impact the experience," which, since launch, 46 hotfixes have been rolled out to address "coupling issues with ability mechanics and server connection problems."

Next is Online Patches, which allows players to continue their Rivals experiences online as it doesn't impact matchmaking, so players can still get their rewards. The downside to Online Patches is that certain gameplay features and functions will be limited, like the in-game Store, and players will have to update the game before logging in to access all the newly added content and gameplay features.

Online Patches mainly serve "for bug fixes and small-scale new content releases," which once an Online Patch has been made live for a while, players must restart the game launcher for it to be updated to its latest version before being allowed to play. The final update type is the Maintenance update that will be released at "key milestones," for example, the beginning of every season, in which Season 1 will be the next Maintenance update slated to arrive in January 2025.

This specific update type will see servers taken offline completely for a mandatory period, meaning players won't have any access to Marvel Rivals. "We'll be using these to deliver new updates and perform server maintenance," and "once the servers are back online, you can update to the latest version to experience all the new content!"