Marvel Rivals has been enjoying a successful launch, and fan morale remains high as we head into season one. I’ll play a few games with my friends throughout the week, my social media feeds are full of buzz about the game, and the future looks bright. But I can’t help but look sidelong at the other hero shooter that inevitably comes up when we discuss Marvel Rivals: Overwatch 2.

All of this initial cheer and excitement feels really familiar, and I remember experiencing it back in the early days of Overwatch. At first, I waited to see whether Marvel Rivals would burn out quickly once the novelty wore off. Now that the game has been out for over a month and the NetEase team is adding new heroes like the Fantastic Four, it feels like the shooter has the potential to stick around.

Then again, the Marvel Rivals developers have the luxury of watching a similar game strike its own course and falter over the years. Overwatch had an incredibly........

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