“Majority of the players will not play competitive anyway,” Marvel Rivals executive producer outlines the importance of balancing for fun

In a recent, Marvel Rivals Executive Producer, Danny Koo, revealed that the top priority of NetEase Games when it comes to balancing heroes, is to retain the fun of playing every single hero in the game. While it may come at the expense of competitive fairness in niche situations, NetEase Games doesn’t bother about that too much. Yes, they do check all the data to make sure no single hero is too overpowered to the level of annoyance, but even that is a second priority for the Marvel Rivals development team.
In this article, we will discuss everything Marvel Rivals Executive Director, Danny Koo, said about retaining the fun aspect of casual Marvel Rivals gameplay alive.



Marvel Rivals Executive Director, Danny Koo, revealed that the developers are aware of the overpowered nature of some of the hero abilities in the game, like Jeff’s ultimate ability. Despite this, they don’t intend to fix it by nerfing these abilities.
Marvel Rivals was made to instill an overpowered feeling while playing these popular heroes. This was one of the primary reasons behind the success of the game. As such, NetEase Games always prioritizes balancing the heroes in Marvel Rivals for casual and fun gameplay. But they also take into account competitive fairness to make sure players can showcase their mastery in the game. Here’s what Mr. Koo said about balancing heroes in Marvel Rivals:
“So every character we balance for fun, first and foremost, as in if the character is fun or not [to play], that's always number one. And then the team has data on win rates, making sure that no one character is too painful and oppressive so that everybody's still having fun. But that's secondary. This game is built to be more acceptable for casual play. People just want to have fun at the end of the day—that balance for fun is always the key number one priority of anything.”



Recent Rank Distribution data reveals that 1.2 million people are sitting at Bronze 3 rank, which is the default rank a player is given once they reach Level 10. This implies that 1.2 million out of 3.8 million players are opting out of playing competitive matches.
Danny Koo, Marvel Rivals Executive Producer is aware of this fact and revealed that NetEase Games has leaned towards catering to the casual player base more. Not to say, they are ignoring competitive and professional tournaments, but keeping the game fun for the general population is more important for them. Here’s what he said:
"[Casual and competitive] co-exist, but the majority of the players will not play competitive anyway, that's for sure. They just want to have fun with friends and go, 'Hey, let's queue and do a quick play.' But competitive is also important, right? Because [players] also want an avenue to show off their mastery."


It can be difficult to cater to the casual and competitive aspects of a game. It is important for a live service game to choose a direction, as trying to do both can lead to its downfall. While games like Counter-Strike have seen success by leaning towards the competitive and esports scene, games like Apex Legends are seeing their downfall trying to jump between casual and competitive balancing.
Marvel Rivals seems to have made their choice by leaning towards the casual community. And with over 1.2 million casual players, it makes sense for NetEase Games to do so. However, the recent matches from the Marvel Rivals Invitational tournament are rather interesting. The success and viewership of the North American matches seem to point towards a healthy and sustainable esports scene for Marvel Rivals.

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