Marvel Rivals has been out for a little over a month now and by all accounts it has been a smash hit for developer NetEase. The free-to-play hero shooter boasted over 20 million players within its first month and recently shattered the concurrent player record on Steam following the launch of its Season 1.
For the most part, Marvel Rivals is an enjoyable game. It features polished gameplay, fun game modes, and an impressive roster of characters, all of whom are immediately unlocked for everyone with no grind necessary. But if there's been one area of critique, it's the game's lack of role lock.
For those unfamiliar with team-based shooters, role lock is essentially a system that places hard limits on how many of a class type — in this case, Vanguard (tank), Duelist (DPS), and Strategist (Support/Healer) — can be played in a single team. The purpose of role lock is to try and create competitive balance by encouraging both teams to have a mix of DPS, healers, and tanks.
Role lock can be thought of as the video game version of a starting lineup in the NBA, where you have to have certain positions on the floor at all times. As it currently stands in Marvel Rivals, players are free to play as any character and role they desire, which means you could possibly end up on a team with all Duelists — a situation that many find themselves in far too frequently. There are no set roles or "positions."
It's one of the biggest hot-button issues currently dividing the Marvel Rivals community, and game director Guangyun Chen was asked about the possibility of implementing role lock and role queue. Chen believes that giving players the freedom to experiment with team comps and strategies is part of what makes Marvel Rivals so special. Rather than forcing players into specific roles, he believes the best approach is to create more team comp possibilities through hero design and the team-up mechanic.
At its core, it’s really about the game balance. So, what we want to offer is more line-up or more team comp possibilities through our hero design and our team-up mechanic. So, we’ll be taking a little bit more of a Marvel-inspired approach.
It’s all about giving the players the freedom to experiment and find their unique strategies, as we’ve seen in many games and streams. Post-launch, people have been exploring an indefinite amount of team compositions, and we’re excited about what’s coming, we believe no role queue will lead to a richer gaming experience for everyone.
Marvel Rivals currently has a roster of 35 playable characters with the recent additions of Invisible Woman and Mister Fantastic (Human Torch and Thing are also set to join in a couple of weeks). However, the majority of these characters are Duelists.
Odds are, your stance on role lock in Marvel Rivals likely depends on the type of player with you. If you're someone who plays casually and just likes to jump on for a few matches to play as your favorite super heroes, then you probably love that there is no role lock. However, if you're more of a competitive player who cares about wins and losses, then role lock would establish more balanced matches.