Marvel Rivals devs reveal planned changes after Strategist players strike

Marvel Rivals developers have revealed planned changes to the game after fans started a community-wide strike against playing as one of its three classes.

Strategist is a class that can be chosen where players basically act as support characters which heal and buff others.

Season 2 of Marvel Rivals recently launched and NetEase Games, the studio behind the popular free-to-play title, included a change in balance which has seen Vanguards and Duelists, the other two classes, start to reign supreme.

Marvel Rivals players have been discussing this since Season 2 started and a number of Strategist players have said matches are increasingly punishing and have even turned toxic with a number of teammates going into text and voice chats to blame them, reports IGN.

And this came to a head when loads of players said on social media they would not be playing as a Strategist, going on strike from the role, until things change.

In a Marvel Rivals Subreddit post, which has 12k upvotes at the time of writing, Redditor Revolutionary-Ad6480, who seemingly usually plays as a Strategist, explained what they've been experiencing since Season 2 began.

The user said: "In a recent match, I was playing support and I wasn't doing bad - nearly 50k healing, only two deaths, same damage blocked as our DPS and just 10k less total damage dealt. Still, someone in voice chat told me: 'Necros was right, you support players are all brain dead.'

"The reason a lot of us choose support is because it's actually fulfilling and fun for us to keep a teammate alive, or to set someone else up for a kill. For us, that's just more fun than chasing elims.

"We're not asking to be glorified or seen as the 'hardest' role - because I don't think we are. We just want basic respect. It's tiring to be called brain dead or worthless when your stats are solid and you're playing your role the way it's meant to be played."

Emma Snow, The White Queen, is the newest playable character in Marvel Rivals Season 2 / Screenshot from NetEase Games, Marvel Games

It's not clear if this is in direct response to the strike or changes were planned anyway but NetEase Games confirmed in a Dev Talk post alterations are in the pipeline.

"We will enhance the damage capabilities of certain Strategists to elevate their threat levels, which in turn, will increase team composition possibilities," the post said.

"Since this is a mid-season balance adjustment, we aim to be cautious, keeping changes minimal to enhance the experience of certain heroes without drastically altering the overall meta.

"As we move into S2.5, with Ultron's arrival and new Team-Up Ability adjustments, we'll consider broader, more comprehensive balance changes.

"We remain humble and attentive, striving to address issues promptly and enhance your experience."

Elsewhere, a Fortnite leak has revealed one of game's biggest ever updates is coming later this year and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered fans have roasted the price of Nintendo Switch 2 Edition games.

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