Category: IGN

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Marvel Rivals Season 1 balance changes are nearly here, and NetEase Games has revealed details that promise tweaks for popular heroes like Captain America, Cloak & Dagger, and Jeff the Land Shark.

The team detailed its reasoning for the buffs and nerfs that will soon be delivered with version 20250110 in a post on its website. Despite having launched only last month, NetEase says it’s happy with the “vibrant diversity of lineups” it has seen this far but still sees some room for improvement.

“Hence, in the first half of Season 1, we are set to make balance adjustments to certain heroes, enabling a broader roster to partake in more intricate gameplay, ensuring a richer, more engaging, and diverse gaming experience for all,” the team explained.

Some of the balance tweaks arriving in the first half of Marvel Rivals Season 1 include slight nerfs to a few of the more dominant heroes in the roster. Hulk’s Indestructible Guard gamma shield is going from 250 to 200 health, while Hela will be hit with a base health reduction that brings her from 275 to 250. Hawkeye is also getting a decrease to his medium-long range damage alongside a slight increase to his close combat resistance. Then there’s Luna Snow, whose ultimate ability will now take longer to switch from damage to healing.

The list of heroes set to benefit from buffs, meanwhile, is quite long, with Cloak & Dagger, Storm, Punisher, Moon Knight, and more due improvements in some form. Captain America is getting some of the more substantial balance adjustments, with NetEase aiming to enhance his survivability. Jeff’s Joyful Splash healing is also getting an increase from 140/s to 150/s, while the team has also moved to make his ultimate ability warning marker line up better with its actual radius.

Marvel Rivals Season 1 launches this Friday, January 10. In an X/Twitter post, NetEase announced that a maintenance period will begin tomorrow, January 9, starting from 11pm to 1.10am PST. Servers go offline during this time, with the team warning that server return times may vary based on progress.

Alongside today’s patch notes, NetEase revealed what it is calling the Hero Hot List, a stat page that details pick and win rates for heroes across console and PC quickplay and competitive matches. It’s a list that will almost certainly change with Season 1 not only because of the balance adjustments but the introduction of four new heroes with the Fantastic Four. Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman start things off with the first half of the season, with The Thing and Human Torch set to arrive in the second half.

You can read the full balance changes planned to arrive in the first half of Marvel Rivals Season 1 below.

Marvel Rivals First Half of Season 1 Balance Changes

VANGUARD

Captain America

Steve will receive some enhanced survivability, allowing more frequent entering and exiting of the combat.

– Reduce the delay time for shield restoration after releasing Living Legend from 3s to 2s.

– Reduce Liberty Rush cooldown from 12s to 10s.

– Increase base health from 650 to 675.

– Reduce the energy cost for releasing Freedom Charge (ultimate ability) from 3400 to 3100; Reduce the additional health provided per second to self after releasing it from 110 to 100.

Doctor Strange

We’ll be reducing the threat range and increasing the defense window of the Sorcerer Supreme.

– Add damage falloff to Maelstrom of Madness and Gamma Maelstrom. Starting at 5 meters and reducing to 70% at 8 meters.

– Slightly decrease the shield value recovery rate after releasing Shield of the Seraphim from 80/s to 70/s.

Thor

The God of Thunder could use some slightly increased survivability and improved the success rate to his ultimate ability.

– Increase base health from 500 to 525.

– Added immunity to control effects during God of Thunder (ultimate ability).

Hulk

Dr. Banner has been dominant, but some decreased sustained combat capability upon entering the battlefield will bring him more in line with other Vanguards.

– Reduce the Indestructible Guard gamma shield value for Hero Hulk from 250 to 200.

Venom

With increased survivability and the threat of his ultimate ability, the symbiote menace will strike fear into the backlines of all enemy teams.

– Increase the Symbiotic Resilience bonus health ratio gained per lost health point from 1 to 1.2.

– Increase the base damage of Feast of the Abyss (ultimate ability) from 40 to 50.

DUELIST

Black Panther

We’re slightly decreasing T’Challa’s combat survivability.

– Reduce the additional health provided to self after refreshing Vibranium Marks with Spirit Rend from 40 to 30, and the upper limit of additional health provided from 120 to 75.

Black Widow

Natasha was very much in need of optimization when evaluating the release experience of her abilities as well as a slightly increase to the threat of her ultimate ability,

– Increase the range of the first effect of Edge Dancer from a 3-meter radius to a 5-meter radius.

– Reduce the time required for Fleet Foot to recover from 0 stamina to full from 12s to 4s.

– Reduce the time required for Electro-Plasma Explosion (ultimate ability) to reach maximum power from 1s to 0.6s.

Hawkeye

We’ll be decreasing the medium-long range damage capability, reducing the threatening combat radius, and slightly improving the close combat resistance for the avenging archer.

– Slightly reduce the spread angle between every two Blast Arrows.

– Reduce the triggering distance of passive ability Archer’s Focus from 60 meters to 40 meters. Reduce the maximum additional damage of the passive from 80 to 70.

Hela

The Goddess of Death has been a menace and we’ll slightly decreasing her combat strength.

– Reduce base health from 275 to 250.

Magik

The Queen of Limbo needed an Increase to her threat after unleashing her ultimate ability.

– Increase Umbral Incursion damage in Darkchild form from 115 to 135.

Moon Knight

The Hand of Khonshu will receive a slight increase to the threat of his ultimate ability.

– Increase the number of talons generated by Hand of Khonshu (ultimate ability) from 10 to 14.

– Increase the explosion radius of each talon from 4 meters to 5 meters.

Namor

We’re optimizing the throwing feel of Namor’s eggs!

– Adjust the throwing feel of Monstro Spawn and Frozen Spawn. Now, Namor can more accurately throw them to the desired location.

Psylocke

We’ll be providing more options for other heroes to counter the demon slayer’s ultimate.

– Now Dance of the Butterfly (ultimate ability) will check for barriers (including Magneto’s Metal Bulwark, Hulk’s Indestructible Guard, etc.).

The Punisher

We’re slightly increasing the damage capability of Frank’s weapons.

– Slightly reduce the spread of Deliverance and Adjudication.

Scarlet Witch

We’re Increasing Wanda’s combat strength when she’s facing Duelists or Strategists.

– Increase Chaos Control’s fixed damage from 50/s to 60/s.

– Reduce the percentage damage per second from 5% to 3%.

– Increase Chthonian Burst’s projectile damage from 30 to 35.

Storm

The Weather Witch needed an overall increase to her damage capability; We’re also optimizing the feel of her left-click projectile and the release experience of her ultimate ability.

– Increase Wind Blade projectile speed from 100m/s to 150m/s and left-click damage from 50 to 55.

– Increase Bolt Rush damage from 70 to 80.

– After releasing Omega Hurricane (ultimate ability), the bonus health provided for herself will be increased from 350 to 450. Moreover, following its conclusion, the extra health will no longer vanish instantly but will instead diminish at a rate of 100 per second.

Squirrel Girl

We’re increasing the threat of Doreen and her furry friends in their ultimate ability.

– Addition of a new effect to the Unbeatable Squirrel Tsunami (ultimate ability): the squirrels will rush towards the nearest enemy after bouncing instead of bouncing randomly.

– Reduce the squirrel tsunami health from 600 to 300.

Winter Soldier

We’ll be adjusting Bucky by decreasing his long-range combat strength and increasing his survivability in medium-close range combat.

– Increase the bonus health provided by Bionic Hook and Tainted Voltage from 30 to 40.

– Increase Roterstern’s projectile damage from 70 to 75.

– Reduce the area damage from 70 to 65 and reduce damage decay from 65% at 40 meters to 60%.

– Increase base health from 250 to 275.

Wolverine

Logan will receive an increase to basic combat strength, but a slight decrease to the additional survivability after activating Undying Animal.

– Increase base health from 300 to 350.

– Reduce the damage reduction ratio provided by Undying Animal from 50% to 40%.

STRATEGIST

Cloak & Dagger

Ty and Tandy will receive an increase to their healing capability as well as an expansion to the coverage area of their ultimate ability.

– Reduce Dagger Storm cooldown from 15s to 12s.

– Increase the number of dashes in Eternal Bond (ultimate ability) from 3 to 4.

Jeff the Land Shark

We’ll be adjusting the range for his ultimate ability so it now better fits the warning marker. In addition, we’ll also be increasing his healing capability.

– Adjust It’s Jeff! (ultimate ability) range from a 10m sphere to a 10m radius, 5m high cylindrical spell field.

– Increase the healing of Joyful Splash from 140/s to 150/s.

Luna Snow

While we’ve enjoyed her dropping the bass, we’ve made adjustments to Luna’s ultimate ability to prevent players from abusing its healing capabilities.

– Increase the interval for switching between healing and damage in Fate of Both Worlds from 0.1s to 0.5s.

Mantis

We’ll be making Mantis a bit less fleet-footed, reducing her roaming support capability.

– Reduce Nature’s Favor (passive) movement boost from 2.5m/s to 1.5m/s.

Rocket Raccoon

Rocket could use an enhancement to his healing capability.

– Increase the healing of Repair Mode from 60 per/s to 70 per/s.

TEAM-UP ABILITIES

Hawkeye – Black Widow

To further tone down Hawkeye’s oppression, we’ ll be reducing his seasonal buff.

– Reduce Hawkeye’s season bonus from 20% to 15%.

Hela – Thor – Loki

Much like Hawkeye, Hela’s overwhelming power will be receiving a slight reduction.

– Reduce Hela’s season bonus from 20% to 15%.

Luna Snow- Namor

We’ll be increasing the threat of Namor’s Frozen Spawn.

– Increase Frozen Spawn damage from 25 to 27.

– Increase Frozen Spawn slowing effect applied to hit enemies from 25% to 30%.

– Increase berserk state Frozen Spawn damage from 16 to 18.

Rocket Raccoon – The Punisher – Winter Soldier

One of Rocket’s best tools will be available more often!

– Reduce the cooldown of Ammo Invention from 45s to 40s.

Scarlet Witch – Magneto

A bit underwhelming, the damage capability of this father-daughter Team-Up ability will be enhanced.

– Increase Metallic Fusion projectile damage from 55 to 60.

– Increase Metallic Fusion spell field damage from 30 to 35.

Thor – Storm – Captain America

We’ll be enhancing the damage capability of Storm’s side of this Team-Up ability.

– Reduce the cooldown of Charged Gale from 20s to 15s.

– Increase the damage of Charged Gale from 50 to 55.

Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.

Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.

NetEase Games has unveiled a Hero Hot List for Marvel Rivals, revealing pick and win rates for everyone from Jeff the Land Shark and Mantis to Storm and Spider-Man.

It’s a straightforward list of every playable character in the massively popular hero shooter that gives players more insight into which Marvel icons are being picked over the others. You probably won’t be too surprised to see Jeff leading the pack as the number-one pick across PC and console quickplay games. He’s sitting at 21.18% pick rate, with Venom in second at 19.09% and Cloak & Dagger in third at 18.81%. At the opposite end of the list, we find Storm, with only 1.66% of players choosing to smite opponents with her weather abilities in quickplay.

Pick rates for competitive, meanwhile, tell a slightly different story. Pop-centric healer and Strategist Luna Snow tops the pick rate list at 20.66%, with Jeff still cracking the top 10 in seventh with 13.86%. The tough-to-handle Storm remains at the bottom in competitive games at just 0.69% on PC, while Black Widow sits in last with 0.79% in competitive console matches. It also seems that the Strategist and Vanguard roles remain equally popular among players regardless of mode or platform.

Concrete numbers for Marvel Rivals show NetEase is willing to be a bit more transparent about how fans are choosing to engage with the roster, but many will likely find little surprise in the pick rate list. Jeff, specifically, has proven to be quite the punching bag for the community since launch arrived last month. This adorable dog shark has terrorized enemy teams with his It’s Jeff! Ultimate ability, which sees him swallowing multiple enemies and, usually, sending them hurtling to their deaths. He’s relatively easy to get a handle on, so it’s never been a surprise to see him show up in a match.

Win rates, on the other hand, reveal that Marvel Rivals has been a mostly even experience regardless of which hero players dive into battle with. While nearly every character hovers around a 50% win rate regardless of game mode, Jeff actually finds himself on the lower end of the spectrum at 45.39% of matches won in quickplay and 44.38% in competitive. It’s actually Mantis who brings home the most consistent victories, with 56% of games won in quickplay and 55.20% won in competitive.

Some of these stats may give players clues as to how NetEase will push forward when it comes to future balance changes. That said, those pick rates will certainly change once Season 1 introduces new maps, modes, and characters, such as the Fantastic Four, starting this Friday, January 10. Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman kick things off starting this week, with The Thing and Human Torch set to arrive halfway through the season.

While we wait for more updates to swoop in, you can read up on why we gave Marvel Rivals and 8/10 in our review. Keep an eye on the latest Marvel Rivals codes for free skins, and vote on the strongest Marvel Rivals characters in our community tier list.

Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.

Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.

Riot Games is ringing in the New Year with a fresh season of League of Legends — the first of three season launches that players will experience in 2025. In typical Riot fashion, there’s a cinematic trailer to go along with it, but this year’s video is a major step-up from its predecessors. For one thing, it’s absolutely stunning — thanks, of course, to a lending hand from Fortiche, the animation studio that brought Arcane to life. But more importantly, the five-minute video is leaving fans of Netflix’s Arcane hopeful that this Noxus-themed trailer doubles as an exciting prelude to another League of Legends show.

There’s a couple of apparent nods to Arcane that make their way into the end of the new cinematic. One of the biggest moments in the trailer that merges series with game comes when Black Rose members Vladimir and LeBlanc discuss how they need to take “advantage of the opportunity that has washed up our shores,” which we’re assuming is a reference to Mel. LeBlanc also comments that “Piltover was a lesson,” which Arcane viewers will recognize as the Runeterra region in which the original show takes place.

The holidays and big seasonal sale events may be behind us, but if you’re still itching to hop on the Game Pass bandwagon there’s still time to save on a membership. Amazon’s currently offering a nice 10% discount on three months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, dropping its price from $49.99 to $44.88. With this, you can jump into exciting new releases like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (which we gave a 9/10).

You can learn more about that deal, what’s coming soon to Game Pass, and the big releases still to come below.

Navigate to:

• Best Xbox Game Pass Deals
• What’s Coming Soon to Xbox Game Pass?
• What Games Are Leaving Xbox Game Pass?
• Biggest Games Releasing on Xbox Game Pass

Best Xbox Game Pass Deals

Capcom has announced a second open beta for Monster Hunter Wilds ahead of its release date.

The beta includes the content from the first beta but adds returning monster Gypceros to hunt. You’ll get to use the character realtor, play the story trial, and complete the Slay Doshaguma Quest. Capcom said those who played the first beta can transfer their character to the second beta, and then onto the full game release. Game progress, however, does not carry forward, but those who take part in the test get special bonuses that can be redeemed in the full game, including a decorative charm for your weapon or Seikret, and an item pack.

Capcom warned fans that improvements it has already announced are set for the full release will not make it into the second open beta. This includes performance improvements, balance changes, weapon mechanics, and other known issues.

Monster Hunter Wilds’ second open beta goes live February 6 at 7pm PT, and runs until February 9 at 6.59pm PT. If you miss out on that, don’t worry: another beta weekend is set for the following weekend (February 13 to 16). Monster Hunter Wilds then launches proper on February 28.

Monster Hunter Wilds is the subject of the latest IGN First, which kicked off with two brand new videos featuring gameplay of Ajarakan and Rompopolo on the Oilwell Basin map. We visited Capcom’s offices in Japan, where we played the first five hours or so of Monster Hunter Wilds, and exclusively faced a few Oilwell Basin local monsters. Look out for more gameplay throughout January, along with in-depth interviews, fun details, and a final preview for Monster Hunter Wilds.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Content Warning: The story contains details regarding physical and psychological abuse, as well as the death of a child.

A new report from People Make Games has unearthed deeply disturbing allegations of workplace abuse at Brandoville Studios, an Indonesian animation support studio that has worked on games such as Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Age of Empires 4, and The Last of Us: Part I Remake.

Allegations of mistreatment at Brandoville Games were first reported by People Make Games back in 2021 as part of a broader story on how Western AAA studios effectively outsource crunch on major games to overseas developers, effectively sweeping it under the rug. However, People Make Games was urged to revisit its reporting on Brandoville more recently, after accusations went viral on Indonesia social media of continued crunch, as well as physical, verbal, and mental abuse.

TheGamer reported on the allegations in September of last year, pointing at CEO Ken Lai’s wife, Cherry Lai, as the instigator of much of the studio’s worst issues. Numerous screenshots and videos verified by TheGamer as well as shared publicly across social media told a story of Lai’s abusive behavior, which included sending threatening and insulting messages to staff, verbally berating and insulting them, and in at least one case, repeatedly physically assaulting an employee and ordering them to physically hurt themselves as “punishment” for poor performance. That employee, Christa Sydney, has shared much of her story publicly, including claiming Lai once slapped her head so hard it caused tinnitus, and at other times choking her, pushing her down the stairs, and forcing her to bang her head on the wall until she had a concussion.

People Make Games’ follow-up investigation goes further to verify and detail these claims, including sharing a video Sydney was allegedly forced to send to Lai of her slapping herself 100 times. In addition to Sydney, People Make Games’ report details other accounts, including allegations that Lai pit employees against one another by verbally berating employees in the office or gossiping about them, forced employees to participate in Christian worship on a daily basis, and would insist on approving employee outfits every day before work. One former employee in the video claims Lai manipulated him into giving him a significant part of his salary.

Another former employee, Syifana Afiati, tells a story of being overworked while pregnant to the point of being asked to work while she was in the hospital. Afiati’s child was born prematurely, and she was asked to return to work just one month after giving birth, despite her maternity leave being three months and her son still being treated in intensive care. Her son died four months later. Three days after he passed away, Lai sent a message to company HR, strategizing on how to avoid supporting Afiati and deprive her of benefits while she was on leave.

Ken Lai did not comment to People Make Games when asked, but Cherry Lai provided a statement to People Make Games: “To me, my part of the story is not important, as long as my team are good and safe now,” but ghosted the outlet without much further commentary.

Brandoville Studios was shut down last year. While Ken and Cherry Lai attempted to spin up a new company with some of the former Brandoville employees, LaiLai Studios – it’s unclear if the company is currently running or working on anything. As of September, Jakarta police were actively searching for Cherry Lai as part of an investigation into Brandoville. Lai suggested in an email to People Make Games that she may have fled to Hong Kong, but that has not yet been confirmed.

IGN has reached out to Naughty Dog, Xbox, and Ubisoft for comment on their partnerships with Brandoville in light of this story and will update if a response is received.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

Netmarble has released a new gameplay trailer for Game of Thrones: Kingsroad, the upcoming action-adventure RPG for iOS, Android, and Windows PC (via Windows Launcher). A closed beta test will also be happening from January 16-22 in the U.S., Canada, and select parts of Europe. Watch the new gameplay trailer above.

Announced at The Game Awards last month, Game of Thrones: Kingsroad is a class-based game where you can play as a longsword-wielding Knight, the Sellsword that takes inspiration from the Wildlings and Dothraki and promises “raw, aggressive, and destructive” combat, or the Faceless Man-inspired, dual-dagger-wielding Assassin. Gameplay will have “fully manual” controls – no doubt a nod to Kingsroad’s mobile game roots.

Story-wise, Netmarble describes the setup for Kingsroad as follows: “Players will experience a brand-new story as they take on the role of a new character, who, through a quirk of fate, becomes the heir to House Tyre, a small noble house in the North.”

Finally, Netmarble says, “Players can sign up for the Regional Closed Beta now through January 12 on the official game website to play the game on Android devices and through Windows launcher on PC.” The full game release will occur later this year.

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s executive editor of previews and host of both IGN’s weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He’s a North Jersey guy, so it’s “Taylor ham,” not “pork roll.” Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.