Gab Hernandez 
The PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch consoles are still clinging to life but will Marvel Rivals help keep them alive or will players need to upgrade to the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S in order to play it? A data miner has seemingly uncovered the answer.
Marvel Rivals turned heads with its surprise reveal in March. Marvel fans have wanted a proper team-based PvP game based on the company for years. After all, there’s a long list of strong Marvel Comics crossover games ranging from arcade classics like Marvel Super Heroes to console titles like Marvel Ultimate Alliance.
NetEase answered the call with Marvel Rivals. Instead of a MOBA like League of Legends or Dota 2, Marvel Rivals opts to be a competitor to Valorant and Overwatch 2. Its gameplay and art style evoke similar vibes as those two games. However, the announcement trailer only confirmed a PC release but data miners suggest Marvel Rivals will also come to consoles and which ones it’s coming to.
Marvel Rivals likely confirmed for PS5, Xbox Series consoles but not Nintendo Switch or PS4
Marvel Rivals’ website reportedly confirms that the game will be coming to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.
Official materials have only confirmed a PC release for the game. That said, a data miner by the handle of @_DreamzGaming claims to have found hidden code on the Marvel Rivals website. The code appears to confirm Marvel Rivals will launch on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles.
These claims would line up with the statements of other leakers. Kurakasis, a leaker who broke the news on Marvel Rivals before its official announcement, claimed there would be a console release for the team-based shooter. It is unknown if Marvel Rivals will also jump to Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Xbox One but it’s highly unlikely if this leak is true. While PS4 and Switch boast large user bases, it’s unlikely that NetEase will commit to a release on past-gen hardware down the road.
Will Marvel Rivals feature crossplay?
NetEase has not confirmed crossplay for Marvel Rivals and likely won’t until its PS5 and Xbox Series X/S availability is confirmed.
With team-based shooters, it’s always “the more the merrier” as far as players are concerned. Still, NetEase only confirmed a PC release for now. The PC build will likely be a testing ground for the game before porting it everywhere else.
Crossplay significantly improves the queue times of competitive multiplayer games as it expands the concurrent player counts significantly. Different games have taken different approaches to crossplay based on which platforms the title is available on and whether players are partied together or queueing on the same hardware.
Marvel Rivals could go in the direction of a game like Fortnite by keeping PC players separate from PS5 and Xbox Series X/S players while still allowing them to party together. It could also keep things completely separated, which is seemingly the plan for Valorant after it goes multi-platform.
Marvel Rivals will hold a closed alpha test in May 2024 for PC players, so announcements of console ports may have to wait until then.
