"Marvel Rivals Hits Player Milestone Post-Season 1 Launch"

Marvel Rivals has once again shattered its own concurrent player record, thanks to the thrilling launch of Season 1 and its fresh content. Dive into the details of the update that's got the gaming community buzzing with excitement!

Marvel Rivals Reaches 600k Peak Players

Marvel Rivals is on fire! The beloved free-to-play team-based shooter has smashed its previous concurrent player record with the launch of Season 1: Eternal Night Falls.

Season 1, dubbed Eternal Night Falls, kicked off on January 10th, bringing a wave of new content including new characters, a new map, game improvements, optimizations, a new ranked tier, and a new Battle Pass. As the weekend approached, players worldwide eagerly jumped onto the servers to explore the new additions, leading to an impressive peak of 644,269 concurrent players on January 11th. This new high surpasses the game's initial launch week record of 480,990 players.

The theme of Eternal Night Falls revolves around the vampire lord Dracula and Doctor Doom, who cast the city into perpetual darkness and unleash an army of vampiric creatures to establish Dracula’s Empire of Eternal Night. In response, the heroes gain new allies—the Fantastic Four! With such an exciting season on the horizon, it's no wonder fans were eager to dive right in.

For those interested in the nitty-gritty details of the update, including character skill adjustments, you can find comprehensive patch notes on the official Marvel Rivals website or the Marvel Rivals Steam community logs.

New Update Removes Mods

While the update brought a wealth of new content, it also removed certain fan-made elements, specifically mods. The introduction of asset hash checking with the update means the game now scans for unauthorized modifications. This system flags anything not officially verified, including cheats, hacks, and unfortunately, mods, potentially leading to warnings or bans for affected accounts. Although this measure helps combat unfair gameplay, it also prevents players from using custom skins, like Luna Snow’s Hatsune Miku skin and Venom’s "hefty" stalk upgrade.

The community's response has been mixed. Some players mourn the loss of their favorite custom skins, while others support the move, seeing it as a necessary step for a free-to-play game that relies on cosmetic sales and in-app purchases to eliminate cheating and maintain fairness.