Dataminers delving into the code of *Marvel Rivals* have sparked intrigue and skepticism within the gaming community. Recently, they uncovered lists of potential future characters, some of which were quickly validated with the official announcement of the Fantastic Four. However, as more names surfaced, rumors emerged suggesting that some entries might be deliberate misleads planted by the developers at NetEase and Marvel.
The community remains divided on the authenticity of these datamined characters. In an exclusive interview, we confronted *Marvel Rivals* producer Weicong Wu and Marvel Games executive producer Danny Koo about these speculations. Both executives denied engaging in any trolling activities, emphasizing their focus on developing the game rather than misleading fans.
Wu explained, "So firstly, we want to say that we don't recommend anybody to make adjustments to the files [of the game]. Also, you can see that for each character's design, we actually go through a very complicated process, involving a lot of concepts, trials, prototypes, development, and so on. So there could be some information left in the code, and it might mean that we have tried those directions and they may appear or may not appear in our future plans. Whether or not they will appear in our future pipeline is highly dependent on what kind of gameplay experience our players would expect in our game."
Koo added, "If I could have a ten-year plan, it'd be great. But the team experimented with a lot of play styles, heroes. It was like there's someone doing scratch paperwork and then just left a notebook there, and someone [a dataminer] decided to open it with no context."
When directly asked if they were trolling the community, Koo firmly stated, "No. We would rather spend our time developing the actual game."
In the same discussion, we explored how characters are selected for inclusion in *Marvel Rivals*. The development team plans updates roughly a year in advance, aiming to add new characters every month and a half. NetEase begins by identifying the type of character and skillset needed to balance the game and enhance roster diversity. Wu highlighted their strategy of focusing on new character additions rather than fine-tuning existing ones, to keep the game fresh and balanced.
After generating a list of potential characters, NetEase collaborates with Marvel Games to develop initial designs. They then consider current community excitement and upcoming Marvel projects, such as films or comic arcs, to finalize their choices. This process explains the variety of heroes found in the game's code, reflecting the numerous ideas NetEase continuously explores.
*Marvel Rivals* has been a hit since its launch, with each new character enhancing the game's appeal. The latest additions, Human Torch and The Thing, are set to join the roster on February 21. Additionally, we discussed with Wu and Koo the potential for a *Marvel Rivals* release on the Nintendo Switch 2, details of which can be found [here](#).
