Former Blizzard head has accused Marvel Rivals of copying Overwatch 2

Former Blizzard head Mike Ybarra has lent his voice to the argument that Marvel Rivals is little more than a copy of Overwatch 2. The two games are hero shooters, feature a large base of playable characters, and share some gameplay similarities.

But Ybarra pointed to Marvel’s Black Widow and her similarities to Overwatch 2’s Widowmaker. Gamers have been quick to point out that Black Widow first featured in Marvel comics more than 50 years ago, while even her appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe predates the original Overwatch’s launch by more than five years. Other critics have also likened aspects of the latest Marvel title with that of Blizzard’s hero shooter.

The Overwatch success story

The original Overwatch, from Blizzard Entertainment, launched in 2016 as a hero shooter. Hero shooters are different from standard shooters because the player characters have discernably different gameplay styles and special moves.  

In 2022, Blizzard said that more than 50 million people had played the original title, so it was hardly surprising when they launched the sequel, Overwatch 2, in 2023. Whereas the original title was a full-priced game on launch, Overwatch 2 launched as a free-to-play title. Within the first 10 days of the game’s launch, more than 25 million people had played the sequel, and by June of this year, its total lifetime player count had surpassed 100 million.

The Marvel Rivals rivalry

Marvel Rivals, from game studio NetEase, launched at the beginning of December and has been billed as a superhero shooter. Players can choose from a large roster of Marvel characters, including the likes of Iron Man and Wolverine. The 33 playable characters, which include heroes and villains, also feature some lesser-known names like Luna Snow and Peni Parker.

The one character that seems to have caught Blizzard’s attention, though, is that of Black Widow. Black Widow first appeared in Tales of Suspense #52, a Marvel comic published back in 1964, and her on-screen debut came in Iron Man 2, which aired in 2010. Despite this, the former Blizzard CEO took aim at the Black Widow character, likening her to Overwatch’s Widowmaker, in a now-deleted Tweet.

There are similarities in name, although it could reasonably be argued that this fault lies on the part of Blizzard, not NetEase. In the comics, Black Widow is skilled in using a variety of weapons, including sniper rifles, which is another area where the character is compared to Widowmaker.

Other Blizzard team members have also been caught up in the debate. Ahead of the Rivals launch, hero designer Alec Dawson and game director Aaron Keller said they would be interested to see how Overwatch clones performed and changed over time.

However, it is worth noting that the pair did not name Marvel Rivals and it was the interviewer that used the term “Overwatch clones”. In fact, Dawson went on to say that “competition is good” and that it enables developers to “hyper-focus” on what makes games special.

Despite the criticism, Marvel Rivals has proved a big success since its launch. It sold 10 million copies within 72 hours of launch. Like Overwatch 2, it is free to play, although there are in-game transactions for cosmetic items, skins, and other items.  

Next for Overwatch 2 and Marvel Rivals

Season 1 of the game is slated for launch in January 2025 and early trailers have shown characters that have not yet appeared in the game. As such, we can expect the addition of Fantastic Four characters in the future.

In contrast, Overwatch 2 has just completed its 13^th season, and season 14 has just launched, bringing with it the new playable character Hazard. Hazard was introduced following play session testing and Blizzard has described him as being a Scottish tank hero.

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