5 February 2026

Overwatch Isn’t Just Winning the Fight Against Marvel Rivals, It’s Dominating It

By newsgame

I was wrong, and I’m fully willing to admit that. Prior to the unveiling of Overwatch’s future plans, I was writing off Overwatch 2 Season 21 as a disappointment, being fairly confident that Marvel Rivals was going to dominate for the foreseeable future. In my defense, based on the old release schedule, Overwatch was gearing up for another dry season without a hero. The pattern was a season with a new hero, a season with a new map, and repeat, but the new maps had stopped releasing, meaning any Season without a hero was quite the slog. So, with Marvel Rivals killing it with Deadpool, I was sure that it would hold its lead over Overwatch for a long while — then, Blizzard tossed out the rulebook.

Overwatch‘s Spotlight stream delivered on all fronts. Not only is the game dropping 5 heroes at once on February 10, but it’s essentially relaunching with a new focus on storytelling. Going forward, there will be yearly stories in Overwatch told across 6 two-month Seasons, with each year bringing an entirely new story arc. There are countless improvements coming to Blizzard’s hero shooter in the near future — the return of post-match hero cards, sub-roles with unique passives, and more interesting events that see players joining factions and competing for rewards — but its biggest triumphs see it stealing Marvel Rivals’ Thunder.

Overwatch Just Removed The Biggest Ace From Marvel Rivals’ Sleeve

While Overwatch is regularly pointed to as the more polished hero-shooter whenever it’s compared to Marvel Rivals, the sheer amount of content in the latter game has been a difference maker for many. The label of quality vs. quantity isn’t exactly fair, either, as Marvel Rivals is a very well-made game, meaning it’s always been NetEase’s mountain of good content vs. Blizzard’s much smaller pile of excellent content. Now, though? That advantage Marvel Rivals once had is quickly fading away.

While Overwatch’s 5-hero drop is undoubtedly huge — it outshines Marvel Rivals Season 1 releasing the entire Fantastic Four in the same season — this one-off burst of content wouldn’t be enough to win a war, at least not for long. However, Overwatch isn’t stopping there. Going forward, there will be no more gap seasons, as every single two-month Season of Overwatch will bring a fresh face to the game’s deep roster of characters. This won’t get in the way of map additions, either, as two core maps are confirmed for 2026. Instead, some Seasons will just be content-heavy, like how Season 3 is bringing both a map and a hero. While Marvel Rivals’ monthly hero releases are still faster than Overwatch dropping heroes every other month, the gap is extremely tight now, effectively removing Rivals’ biggest advantage over Overwatch.

Find all 10 pairs

Storytelling is Finally a Strength of Overwatch Again

The other area where Marvel Rivals has been outshining Overwatch is on the storytelling front. However, after clawing back some ground with its lore codex, Overwatch is finally seeking to progress its story in a meaningful way. Like Marvel Rivals, from now on, every single Season will tell a story, reflected via motion comics, traditional comics, short stories, and hero trailers. And, based on the Spotlight stream, it seems like Overwatch’s Pixar-level animated shorts are back from the dead. Even if only one of these comes out each year at the start or end of a Season, they’re both unforgettable and attention-grabbing, making them a great way to keep even casual fans invested in the narrative.

Outside of Doom’s looming presence, Marvel Rivals’ Seasons don’t feel all that connected, which helps create different themes but can lead to plot points like Doom’s plan feeling as if they’re being dragged out. On the other end of the spectrum, Overwatch is aiming to tell a clear, meaningful story every year, with each Season directly building on what came before. Whereas Rivals’ story is consumed almost entirely by reading lore entries and gallery cards, Overwatch is employing a wider range of tools, and that variety could give it the edge in another big area where Rivals was previously outshining it. Even if they’ve been a bit all over the place, Marvel Rivals telling seasonal stories has been a boon, so it’s great that Overwatch is finally doing more than just random lore drops for its cast. And with a new arc each year, there should never be a world where story lovers get bored with the game.

Marvel Rivals’ animated content is limited to map intros and season reveals (as well as special occasions like the Deadpool reveal trailer), with Overwatch producing more consistent visual media to tell its stories. Perhaps NetEase will start to tell its story in a more varied way to keep up, but this remains to be seen.

Overwatch Taking Things To Another Level is a Huge Win For Marvel Rivals

For anyone thinking I may be biased and that I’m hoping for Rivals‘ downfall or something like that, let it be known that this couldn’t be further from the truth. I absolutely adore both Marvel Rivals and Overwatch, splitting my time between them and finishing every battle pass for both games. Yet this love for both titles is why I’m so glad that Overwatch knocked all our socks off with its latest showing. Competition is healthy for any industry, with gaming and its busier genres being no different. Given these upcoming changes and additions, it’s hard to argue against Overwatch being back at the top of the genre it revolutionized, and that’s for the best. Because now that Blizzard has effectively taken away NetEase’s biggest advantages, NetEase will have to get creative and come up with the next big thing for its hero shooter. As for what that could be, there are plenty of options:

An increased focus on PvE could be a wise move, as it’s the one area Overwatch still misses the mark on. Instead of disconnected modes like the successful Marvel Zombies, perhaps seasonal stories could be progressed through missions where a group of heroes battles the current narrative’s villain.
A significantly different way to play Marvel Rivals akin to Overwatch’s popular Stadium mode.
A spin on Overwatch’s perk system and that game’s upcoming sub-roles.
More rule-breaking characters like Deadpool that all roles can enjoy.
Something bold and unexpected that helps Rivals stand out from Overwatch.

Overwatch may be a more polished game full of unique characters (and with a hugely promising future), but there’s always a chance for things to shift back in the other direction. Marvel Rivals remains a solid experience that’s constantly receiving neat little additions, like the disco club and fight pit that came to the NYC hub area. Said hub, as well as hero team-ups, are things that Overwatch lacks at the moment — though there’s no telling when or if Blizzard will take away those advantages like it just did with storytelling and hero releases. Overwatch seems to be gearing up for a huge comeback, and that just so happens to be the healthiest thing possible for fans of the genre. As someone who was so sure that Overwatch’s next Season would be a flop, I don’t think I’ve ever been more wrong, and I couldn’t be happier to admit that. Now it’s up to Marvel Rivals to strike back, all while hero shooter fans get to enjoy two games that are firing on all cylinders.