NetEase Games has banned the popular third-party plugin Blitz from being used with Marvel Rivals on PC. The plugin has gained traction on PC for those looking for a competitive advantage in the free-to-play PvP hero shooter.
The official Blitz website notes that the software features a real-time leaderboard as well as a health and ultimate energy tracker for your team. However, NetEase believes some of the other information it reveals could provide an unfair advantage.
The program, as explained by NetEase, "injects itself into our game process, giving users confidential information like damage and healing statistics."
These sorts of statistics provide advantages by allowing players "to selectively ban heroes, predict opponents' ultimate abilities, and more, severely undermining the fairness of our game."
"As such, we deem this program as cheating software and will no longer allow its use during gameplay," NetEase announced.
Don't worry if you've used Blitz though. NetEase assures that anyone who previously used this software will not face any penalties. But consider this a warning because using it in future games could result in some sort of punishment.
"To uphold justice in our gaming universe and protect the integrity of your account, we strongly urge you to refrain from using any third-party plugins," NetEase stated. "Together, we can forge a vibrant and heroic gaming environment."
Although NetEase specifically only called out Blitz, there are plenty of other third-party programs that can be used in Marvel Rivals on PC. NetEase's statement has apparently caused some confusion among PC players who now aren't sure if they can use other tools or if they've all been banned.
Tracker.gg, for example, also provides Marvel Rivals stats as well as global and regional leaderboards. It also provides stats profiles for each player and stats breakdowns and allows you to compare your stats against your friends or favorite streamers. Is this also deemed cheating software by NetEase? As some have noted, it only shows the enemy's four most-played heroes, which can actually be found manually from tracker websites.
Other third-party programs, like Outplayed, are simply used to capture and record gameplay footage. It would be silly to ban this from the game, especially since sharing game highlights is big in the competitive community.
At this point, it seems only using Blitz will get you in trouble with NetEase, but it does sound like the developer is against the use of all third-party programs and plugins. I doubt you'll get in trouble for any other ones, especially since some of the most popular competitive games allow them, but hopefully, we get additional clarification from NetEase. In the meantime, I would suggest using them at your own risk.