Overwatch isn't just winning the battle against Marvel rivals, it's dominating it

I was wrong, and I'm perfectly willing to admit it. Before the unveiling of Monitorings future plans I wrote off Overwatch 2 Season 21 as a disappointment, pretty sure of it Marvel Rivals will dominate for the foreseeable future. In my defense, based on the old release schedule, Monitoring be ready for another dry season without a hero. The pattern was one season with a new hero, one season with a new map, and repeat, but the new maps had stopped being released, meaning any season without a hero was really tough. So with Marvel Rivals when I killed it with Deadpool, I was sure it would keep its lead Monitoring for a long time — then Blizzard threw out the rulebook.

Monitorings Spotlight power delivers on all fronts. Not only is the game releasing 5 heroes at once on February 10th, but it's basically relaunching with a new focus on storytelling. Going forward, there will be stories every year Monitoring is told over six two-month seasons, with each year featuring an entirely new story arc. There are countless improvements coming to Blizzard's hero shooter in the near future – the return of post-match hero cards, sub-roles with unique passives and more interesting events where players join factions and compete for rewards – but its biggest triumphs see it steal Marvel Rivals'Thunder.

Overwatch just removed the biggest ace from Marvel Rivals sleeve

While Monitoring is regularly singled out as the more polished hero shooter whenever it's compared to Marvel Rivalsthe large amount of content in the latter game has made a difference for many. The labeling of quality vs. quantity isn't exactly fair, either, as Marvel Rivals is a very well-made game, meaning it's always been NetEase's mountain of good content compared to Blizzard's much smaller pile of great content. But now? That advantage Marvel Rivals once had disappears quickly.

While Monitorings 5 hero drop is undoubtedly huge – it shines Marvel Rivals Season 1 releasing the entire Fantastic Four in the same season – this one-shot burst of content wouldn't be enough to win a war, at least not for long. However, Monitoring doesn't stop there. Going forward, there will be no more mid-seasons, like every two-month season of Monitoring will bring a new face to the game's deep roster of characters. This also won't stand in the way of map additions, as two core maps are confirmed for 2026. Instead, some seasons will just be content-heavy, like how Season 3 brings both a map and a hero. While Marvel Rivals' monthly hero releases are still faster than Monitoring losing heroes every other month, the gap is extremely small now, which effectively removes Rivals' greatest advantage over Monitoring.

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Storytelling is finally a strength of Overwatch again

The other area there Marvel Rivals has been brilliant Monitoring is on the storytelling front. But after squeezing back some ground with his lore codex, Monitoring finally trying to develop his story in a meaningful way. As Marvel Rivalsfrom now on, each season will tell a story, reflected via motion comics, traditional comics, short stories and hero trailers. And based on the Spotlight stream, it seems Monitorings Pixar-level animated shorts are back from the dead. While only one of these comes out each year at the beginning or end of a season, they're both memorable and attention-grabbing, making them a great way to keep even casual fans invested in the story.

Outside of Doom's looming presence, Marvel Rivals' Seasons don't feel as connected, which helps create different themes but can lead to plot points like Doom's plan feeling dragged out. At the other end of the spectrum, Monitoring aims to tell a clear, meaningful story each year, with each season building directly on what came before. While Rivals' story is consumed almost entirely by reading literature entries and gallery cards, Monitoring uses a wider range of tools, and that variety can provide that advantage in another big area there Rivals outshone it before. Although they have been a bit all over the place, Marvel Rivals Telling seasonal stories has been a blessing, so that's good Monitoring finally does more than just random lore drops for its cast. And with a new arc every year, there should never be a world where story lovers get bored with the game.

Marvel Rivals' animated content is limited to map intros and seasonal reveals (as well as special occasions like the Deadpool reveal trailer), with Monitoring produce more consistent visual media to tell their stories. Maybe NetEase will start telling its story in a more varied way to keep up, but that remains to be seen.

Overwatch Taking things to another level is a huge win for Marvel Rivals

For anyone who thinks I might be biased and I hope so Rivals' doom or something like that, let it be known that this could not be further from the truth. I absolutely adore both Marvel Rivals and Monitoringsplitting my time between them and finishing every combat pass for both games. Still, this love for both titles is why I'm so happy about it Monitoring knocked all our socks off with his latest showing. Competition is healthy for any industry, with gaming and its livelier genres being no different. Given these upcoming changes and additions, it's hard to argue against Monitoring being back at the top of the genre revolutionized it, and it's for the best. Because now that Blizzard has effectively taken away NetEase's biggest strengths, NetEase needs to get creative and come up with the next big thing for its hero shooter. Whatever it may be, there are many options:

An increased focus on PvE could be a wise move, as that is the only area Monitoring still misses the mark on. Instead of disconnected modes like the successful Marvel Zombies, perhaps seasonal stories could unfold through missions where a group of heroes battle the current story's villain.
A significantly different way to play Marvel Rivals related to Monitorings popular Stadium mode.
A spin on Monitorings perk system and that game's upcoming sub-roles.
More rule-breaking characters like Deadpool that all roles can enjoy.
Something bold and unexpected helps Rivals stands out from Monitoring.

Monitoring might be a more polished game full of unique characters (and with an incredibly promising future), but there's always a chance for things to move back the other way. Marvel Rivals remains a solid experience that keeps getting neat little additions, like the disco club and fighting pit that came to the NYC area. Said hubs, as well as hero teams, are things like Monitoring missing at the moment — though there's no telling when or if Blizzard will remove these advantages like it just did with storytelling and hero drops. Monitoring seems poised for a huge comeback, and it happens to be the healthiest thing possible for fans of the genre. As someone who was so sure of it MonitoringThe next season was going to be a flop, I don't think I've ever been more wrong, and I couldn't be happier to admit it. Now it's up to Marvel Rivals to fight back, all while fans of hero shooters get to enjoy two games firing on all cylinders.