NetEase has announced that Marvel Rivals plans to introduce its first-ever PvE mode on October 23 as part of the shooter’s first Halloween event. The new survival mode is billed as “Marvel Zombies-inspired” and was developed in part with members of the Disney+ animated show’s creative team, according to comments from game producer Danny Koo and Marvel Studios’ head of streaming Brad Winderbaum.
The mode follows a familiar formula of escalating enemy waves and end-of-round bosses. Players will face zombified versions of familiar figures and work through increasingly difficult encounters. The format owes a clear debt to Overwatch 2’s Junkenstein-style Halloween events, and it joins the other planned seasonal additions that have been coming to the game this year, as noted in earlier coverage about new events and modes here.
The playable roster for this PvE survival run is limited to five characters: Thor, Blade, Magik, Jeff, and The Punisher. Each hero gets slight mechanical tweaks for the mode. Jeff gains new options for underground swimming attacks. Blade’s moon blades have new bounce behavior. Bosses sit at the end of waves. One of the larger named threats is a zombified Namor, and another is billed as the “Queen of the Dead.”
NetEase also pointed viewers to a preview clip. A wider trailer is described as “coming soon,” and the studio has not yet said how long the event will run or whether cosmetics like rotting skins will be included. The PvE reveal arrives as the shooter continues to pull players from competitors and expand its seasonal slate, a trend discussed in reporting on player movement here.
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