Marvel Rivals has proven that hero shooters aren’t quite dead yet. But the biggest reason for its success isn’t its gameplay but rather the excellent execution of the Marvel IP. So is DC going to compete with this? DC Studios’ CEO James Gunn is certainly considering the possibility of a similar project from DC.
It might also be the perfect time for DC to start cooking something up because NetEase recently laid off a portion of its Seattle-based team and it’d be pretty cool if DC picked them up. Fans are wary after what happened with Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and with NetEase’s success, the ball is firmly in DC’s court.
Is DC going to make a competitor to Marvel Rivals?
James Gunn, the head of DC Studios, has confirmed that the company is open to exploring a hero shooter akin to Marvel Rivals (via ComicBook). While no game is officially in development, Gunn stated that he’s interested in hearing pitches from developers. The thing is, we know DC can’t copy what Marvel has done one-on-one because that makes no sense. Players would have no reason to play the new game.
James Gunn says they’re open to making a DC equivalent of #MarvelRivals 🎮 pic.twitter.com/sudEQgOCE0
— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) February 24, 2025
Gunn mentioned discussions with WB studios like Rocksteady and NetherRealm, known for Batman: Arkham and Injustice, respectively. Neither has been known to make live service titles and Rocksteady’s own Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was a big flop last year. So how would DC even go about making a competitor? Well, the answer lies with Marvel itself.
Marvel Rivals launched at the end of 2024 and immediately became one of the biggest games in the world, even surpassing Overwatch 2 in popularity. It did that because of how stagnant the hero shooter genre was. Overwatch 2 had a hold on the genre but players were increasingly disappointed with Blizzard’s handling of the game. And so, NetEase swooped in, and the rest is history.
Marvel Rivals Game Director and his entire Seattle based team has been laid off by NetEase according to LinkedIn posts
Following one of the most successful game launches we have seen in a long time… pic.twitter.com/x6bJMI7nKG
— Jake Lucky (@JakeSucky) February 18, 2025
They better hire this same team 🤣
— NERO (@ok_nero) February 25, 2025
But what surprised us all is that right after this genre-defining success, NetEase laid off key members of the game‘s Seattle-based development team, including game director Thaddeus Sasser. There was a lot of buzz over that. But the point is, If DC is serious about making a hero shooter, what could be better than hiring the very team that just proved they know how to make one work?
It’ll be fine as long as DC keeps it original in the way that NetEase did
Despite Gunn’s openness to a Marvel Rivals-style game, DC has yet to announce any concrete plans. Even if a project were greenlit today, it would likely take years before it saw the light of day. So if DC wants to cook something up, we’ll enjoy Marvel Rivals in the meantime. We just got The Thing and Human Torch with the Season 1.5 update and it’s a blast.
One thing that people bring up about Marvel Rivals‘ success is that a lot of it is owed to the IP itself, and it’s completely true. Sure NetEase made an excellent hero shooter that competes with the likes of Overwatch 2, but what really sells it is the fact that gamers can play as some of their favorite heroes and villains from the extensive library of the Marvel Comics and Cinematic Universe.
So if IP is a big part of the success, then we know there won’t be a shortage of it for a DC project. The recently laid-off members of the Marvel Rivals development team may not have done all the work that brought the game to success, but at least they know what they’re doing. And bringing them onto whatever project DC plans might be the first step to success.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
