Marvel Rivals is getting ready for the holidays with the game's inaugural Winter Celebration event kicking off later this week. Developer NetEase gave players a sneak peek of the holiday content coming soon, which include thing like special holiday-themed costumes, new game modes, and "a few surprises."
The main attraction this year is "Jeff's Winter Splash Festival," a 4v4 Arcade Mode starring Jeff the Land Shark. Jeff is one of the more obscure characters in Marvel Rivals, but he's definitely become the most well-known in recent weeks thanks to his cute appearance but deadly abilities in the PvP shooter.
Drawing comparisons to Nintendo's Splatoon, "Jeff's Winter Splash Festival" pits two teams of players against each other with everyone playing as Jeff. But rather than trying to eliminate the enemy, the goal is to cover the map in your team's color of Jeff's Joyful Splash.
In addition to this new game mode, we're getting special holiday-themed costumes. In the video below, you'll get a sneak peek at some of the festive costumes for Venom, Groot, Rocket, and more.
Ready to Shine? We're bringing in 'Jeff's Winter Splash Festival'—a new game mode—so you can truly exude your land shark joy and take on new territories. A special winter greeting card with gifts from Jeff is also waiting for you...🎁
The Winter Celebration begins on Friday, December 20th at 00:00 UTC. Completing tasks specific to this event will reward players with limited-time items such as the Jeff the Land Shark: Cuddly Fuzzlefin costume, nameplate, spray, and other rewards.
Additionally, Marvel Unlimited subscribers can redeem the special Jeff the Land Shark "UNLIMITED APPETITE" spray. All paid Marvel Unlimited subscribers with a membership prior to December 25th will receive the redemption code beginning January 3rd.
Marvel Rivals launched earlier this month on December 6th and is currently in the midst of its inaugural season, Dooms' Rise. The game is available to play for free on Xbox, PlayStation and PC with all current and future characters unlocked immediately for everyone. As of right now, there are 33 playable Marvel heroes and villains to choose from.
Marvel Rivals has been most often compared to Blizzard's Overwatch due to the basic nature of the game; it's a competitive, team-based PvP Hero Shooter. As of December 10th — just three days after launch — the game had surpassed 10 million players worldwide. Reviews have been mostly positive with a "generally favorable" rating on Metacritic.