Marvel Rivals Can’t Keep Wasting a Prime Opportunity To Expand Its War with Overwatch

Marvel Rivals continues to be a major contender in the hero-shooter genre, even over half a year after its release. With the third-person shooter approaching its third season, its content roadmap appears promising. Still, Marvel Rivals has plenty of room for improvement moving forward.

One area that could use attention is the absence of Marvel Rivals on specific consoles, particularly the Nintendo Switch. In contrast, Overwatch 2 is on the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2, so with Marvel Rivals lacking a Nintendo Switch port, Overwatch 2 has a natural foothold among Nintendo users. If NetEase wants to gain and keep an upper hand over its main competition, expanding Marvel Rivals‘ platform lineup to the Switch 2 in particular would be a good idea.

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Overwatch 2 Holds the Advantage with Nintendo Players

Currently, Overwatch 2 is already a step ahead with its Nintendo Switch port. However, it’s worth noting that the game released on the original Switch in 2019 and hasn’t received a dedicated port to the new Nintendo sonsole. While a Nintendo Switch 2 version of Overwatch 2 would be a worthwhile upgrade, Blizzard has yet to confirm if there are any plans in store for this.

Some have noted that due to the Nintendo Switch 2’s higher-end specs and updated firmware, Overwatch 2 is more stable than it was on the original Nintendo Switch, even if it doesn’t take full advantage of the latest console. Furthermore, Overwatch 2 Season 17 could be the perfect time for Blizzard to update its six-year-old port; however, there is no official indication that this will happen. Still, the timing would make sense, considering the recent launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 and how frequently Team 4 updates Overwatch 2. This should give Marvel Rivals all the motivation it needs to make its way to the Switch 2 as quickly as possible.

NetEase Games Has Expressed Interest in a Nintendo Switch 2 Port

Since a version of Overwatch 2 intended explicitly for the Nintendo Switch 2 currently doesn’t exist, Marvel Rivals could take advantage of this by expanding to the platform sooner rather than later. After all, comparisons between Marvel Rivals and Overwatch 2 are inevitable. This makes sense since the two games often share overlapping communities.

Even if NetEase Games’ superhero-shooter doesn’t make it to the Nintendo Switch 2 before its competitor, it shouldn’t keep it that way for long. As Marvel Rivals‘ player count on Steam has been declining over time, it needs to expand its reach to renew interest and continue building a loyal player base. Remaining unavailable on the Nintendo Switch 2 would only be detrimental to this goal.

Fortunately, the developers have commented on the situation as recently as February of this year at the DICE Summit in Las Vegas. According to an interview with IGN, Marvel Rivals has been in contact with Nintendo regarding development kits for its game. Marvel Rivals producer Weicong Wu commented that the game was not released on the original Nintendo Switch due to technical limitations, but that the team was open to working on it if it could be proven that the Switch’s successor can provide a satisfactory experience.

With some players reporting performance issues in Marvel Rivals, such as optimization problems and unstable frame rates, this path could prove risky.

In a way, Marvel Rivals is actually a step ahead of Overwatch 2 in terms of a Nintendo Switch 2 port, as Blizzard hasn’t made any public commitments on the matter, and its current version still runs rather poorly, sitting at 30 FPS. However, Overwatch 2’s backward compatibility gives it an advantage that NetEase Games’ title currently lacks. Nevertheless, this issue could be resolved if NetEase Games can act quickly and deliver an engaging and well-optimized experience, allowing Switch 2 fans to get a wider variety of experiences following the renewed surge of interest in hero-shooters.