Marvel Rivals’ Anniversary Rewards Come With a Big Catch, and Players Aren’t Happy

Some players who were previously excited about Marvel Rivals‘ Anniversary Celebration event have come together to express their frustration with the fact that many of the Units players receive will actually expire in less than three weeks. Marvel Rivals was originally released on December 6, 2024, and is currently available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. The popular hero shooter recently launched Season 5, which added the highly anticipated X-Men character Gambit to the game as a Strategist.

Marvel Rivals November 27 update has added a lot of content to the game, exciting a large portion of the community. Right now, players can log in to experience a fresh game mode that promises to be a fairly unique experience. While a typical match of Marvel Rivals only consists of 12 players, this explosive mode will allow 36 players to face off on the new Grand Garden map. It isn’t a free-for-all, however, as the lobby will be split into two teams composed of 18 people each. As a live-service title, Marvel Rivals is constantly expanding the amount of modes and activities available to players, as NetEase Games wants to ensure that its community never run out of things to do. While some of these modes only stick around for a limited amount of time, others have become a permanent fixture within the hero shooter. Unfortunately, some events and rewards miss the mark, leaving some players confused and frustrated as they attempt to enjoy the game.

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Marvel Rivals’ Free Units Expire

In a recent post on Reddit, dirty_water_potato expressed their disappointment with Marvel Rivals‘ Anniversary Celebration rewards. NetEase Games has been hyping up the Anniversary Celebration event, stating that players will be able to claim a whopping 2,500 Units to spend in the store. This is easily the largest number of Units players have been able to claim for free as part of an event, which had quite a few people planning what they would spend it on. However, in the patch notes, NetEase Games revealed that 1,500 of these Units would be “limited-time Units.” In the Reddit post, dirty_water_potato shared an image of their currency, showing that the 200 Units they’d just claimed for logging in during the event will expire in less than three weeks. While this isn’t an issue for gamers looking to spend their free Units right away, it does pose a problem for fans who were hoping to stash them away for future purchases. In the post, dirty_water_potato asked people to raise awareness about the issue and share their thoughts with NetEase Games. Since this is the first time the company has given away Units that expire, it’s possible that player feedback could prevent them from doing so again in the future.

In another post on Reddit, Boricinha stated that the use of limited-time Units as a reward could set a bad precedent moving forward, as it could prevent gamers from saving up Marvel Rivals‘ Units to make larger purchases. They claimed that the limited-time nature of the Units could pressure some players into spending money on Lattice to make a larger purchase (like a Legendary skin), or be penalized by watching their rewards expire. Many people in the comments agreed with their complaint, as quite a few people enjoy stacking up Units until a skin that they really want rotates into the shop. If NetEase Games continues to craft rewards this way in the future, it could prevent people from saving up their Units. Some people pointed out that this strategy could also backfire for NetEase Games, as it could cause people to become disinterested in events. Gamers who don’t want to make an immediate purchase might skip an event altogether, as the promised Units no longer carry the same weight or value that they once did.

Fortunately, gamers will still be able to claim 1,000 traditional Units that don’t expire as part of the event as well, which should excite people looking to save up some currency for the future. Players also have the ability to claim a free skin for Jeff the Land Shark in Marvel Rivals, which shows the goofy mascot sporting oversized glasses and a business suit. Despite a few hiccups with the Anniversary Celebration rewards, many fans are feeling optimistic about the future of Marvel Rivals.

Released

December 6, 2024

ESRB

T For Teen // Violence

Developer(s)

NetEase Games

Publisher(s)

NetEase Games