Marvel Rivals is the newest competitor in the hero-shooter genre and while a lot of people might agree that Overwatch 2 and this new game made by NetEase are different in lots of ways, some hardcore D.Va fans might disagree with that statement.
With the recent release of Invisible Woman’s (a.k.a Sue Storm) malice skin, players have been quite excited to play as her character in this third-person shooter. Although we all know why searches for Invisible Woman went up after the game released the character, the developers of the game are keen on proving us wrong.
Let’s delve deeper into why, according to the devs, the body shape of all the characters in Rivals is not just for aesthetic purposes but also plays a crucial role during matches.
Marvel Rivals made the Invisible Woman popular
Marvel Rivals has single-handedly brought the Invisible Woman back to relevancy with her debut in the game back in January, and with her new Malice skin, fans are going even crazier for her. In an interview with PC Gamer, the executive producer of Marvel Rivals, Danny Koo, said that the developer team noticed a sharp spike in Google searches when they announced the Fantastic Four for Rivals.
When we announced Fantastic Four, the Google searches for Invisible Woman went up 3,000% in that period,
While a lot of people suspect that the sudden rise in the popularity of Sue Storm is because of her attractive appearance which is appealing to the male demographic of the game, NetEase have been validating players that the choices made for female characters in the game are not just for the male gaze but also to give them their own distinct character.
In another interview between Games Rader and Koo, he innocently specifies how in the game, a character should be recognized instantly and players should be able to tell what powers they have based on their body shape or silhouette.
Marvel Rivals is one of those rare games that you’re able to showcase who the character is instantly, Whether their body shape or silhouette, if you just look at them, you can tell what their powers are. That’s the key.
Koo also mentions how nobody knew who Invisible Woman was before Rivals made her popular.
NetEase Games shouldn’t be oblivious to the fact that the Internet can be malicious
Although Invisible Woman’s design in Marvel Rivals undeniably appeals more to the male audience than the female, it does serve its functional purpose of being recognizable in an instant. Rivals is a very chaotic game, and it’s almost impossible to keep up with what’s happening on the screen. That’s why each character in the game has a distinctive feature that makes them unique from the rest of the heroes.
Clear visual distinctions are very important in any fast-paced game, and the ability to quickly identify characters is absolutely crucial. While the developers have maintained that they made these design choices with clarity in mind, it is still not a safe bet to assume that the internet’s fascination with a female character is purely innocent.
The Malice skin also emphasizes a bigger and common problem in the gaming industry, which is how the audience’s perception of a character can morph and overshadow the character’s depth. In this sense, Marvel Rivals is a prime example of how delicate it is to balance between the design intent of a character and the audience’s interpretation of it.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
