Marvel Rivals and Overwatch Aren’t Stealing From One Another, Despite What Some Fans Think
· Vice
Marvel Rivals and Overwatch have been compared by their communities ever since the development of Rivals first kicked off. Of course, as both games are team-based hero shooters, there is a lot of overlap that occurs both in aesthetics and hero designs, as well as in gameplay and game features. Despite the overlap being inevitable, this hasn’t stopped fans from each game accusing the other of copying key mechanics and hero designs.
This conversation seems to have flared up again following the recent rebrand of Overwatch and the arrival of five new playable heroes within a story-based seasonal format. As each ability kit for these new heroes was revealed, this has stirred many social media posts and discussions of comparisons and accusations of stolen mechanics. However, focusing on supposed theft between the games misses the point of why both of them work, and why this competition is actually a good, healthy thing.
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Here’s Why “Overwatch vs. Marvel Rivals” is Healthy Competition, Not Theft
The important thing to consider is that both of these games are hero shooters, and hero shooters will always be built on a specific foundation/core ruleset. There will be long-range damage dealers, burst damage heroes, mobile flankers, and utility supports, for example. These roles existed in video games long before both Overwatch and Marvel Rivals, and they will continue to appear in games for many years to come, too. When games are built from the same structure, similarities aren’t a surprise; they’re a given.
When these discussions around Overwatch and Marvel Rivals tend to spark, they tend to fall into the territory of “copy”, “rip-off”, or “stolen”. This fuels arguments between fans almost instantly, yet these words are often an oversimplification of opposing design parallels. When looking carefully at these overlaps, the similarities are more often than not surface-level. Sure, the characters may fill similar archetypes or roles, but they execute those roles differently.
Hero Comparisons Between Marvel Rivals and Overwatch
Snipers, flankers, area-denial heroes, and utility picks are all natural roles that are needed in order for a hero shooter to operate at the highest level. This structure wasn’t invented by Overwatch, and Rivals most certainly isn’t stealing those concepts. This is simply how the foundation of these team-based shooters operates. Of course, both titles will have heroes that mirror similar kits or playstyles, as they are needed to fill those roles that the hero shooter requires.
Star-Lord & Tracer – Disruptive, Mobile Flankers
Star-Lord and Tracer, for example, have a lot of comparable aspects. They are both high-mobility DPS/Duelist heroes, capable of performing flanks, disrupting the backline, and getting solo-target picks. They both have mobility ‘blinks’ to enhance this disruptive playstyle, and hitscan-based weapons. However, the deeper you look, the differences become apparent.
Tracer uses her primary blinks as a source of movement around the map. Star-Lord’s main mobility comes from his rocket boosters, while his blinks refresh his ammunition and are best used for evasion. Furthermore, their Ultimate Abilities could not be more different – Tracer’s is a sticky bomb that deals huge damage after a minor delay, while Star-Lord’s grants free-flight in the sky and aimbot with his pistols on targets he looks at. They may both reside in the same hero design category, they may have some familiar aspects to one another, but they do not necessarily create the same gameplay loop.
Black Panther & Genji – Aggressive Backline Dive Heroes
The same goes for Black Panther and Genji – many of their comparisons follow the same pattern. A high skill ceiling dive DPS/Duelist that excels at disrupting the backline, taking out Supports/Strategists, and operates on ability cooldown resets.
However, Black Panther relies on marking abilities and hitting them with his dash to reset the dash and continue flashy combos, while Genji must actually help secure a kill in order to refresh his own dash. Black Panther’s Ultimate is about applying burst damage, whilst Genji’s operates on applying team-wide pressure. These minor differences are enough to create quite a different feeling in their gameplay loop.
Widowmaker & Black Widow – Ranged Hitscan Snipers With Various Grapples
Even the likes of Widowmaker and Black Widow have their unique aspects, despite much overlap as long-ranged sniper heroes. Sure, they both can hold down long sights and secure picks from range. However, Widowmaker is a much more stationary sniper – relying on the likes of her venom mine and grapple hook to reposition herself and escape threats.
While Black Widow, on the other hand, can operate in a stationary playstyle, she thrives as a run-and-gun sniper. She has great mobility compared to Widowmaker, with a sprint and enhanced jump that allows her to play at different ranges and stay on the move from threats. Furthermore, she has melee damage capabilities with her second weapon, and a close-range grappling hook, enabling her to face threats head-on, rather than reposition.
At the core of a hero shooter, when a new character drops, players should be able to understand their role almost immediately – that’s just good design clarity. Two characters can look similar on paper and yet demand completely different approaches from the player, from cooldown times and passive abilities to team-up potential and synergy picks, these can all help define a hero as distinctive.
Hero Shooters are an Evolving Genre
It’s also incredibly important to consider how video game genres evolve. Overwatch certainly is not the first game of this nature – it undoubtedly drew inspiration from the likes of Team Fortress 2, MOBAS such as League of Legends, and countless other FPS design elements from over the years.
Overwatch is no stranger to comparisons prior to Marvel Rivals, though. Paladins faces the exact same accusations seen between OW and Rivals when it first launched. However, when every similarity is reduced to “they copied”, it ignores the creative process involving shared ideas/mechanics, refinement, and the competition between the two. In reality, these games all share DNA due to being part of the same family tree, so to speak. Years later, fans came to understand that both games drew from a combination of FPS and MOBA roots, rather than directly from one another. That same cycle is now happening between Overwatch and Marvel Rivals, following Rivals entrance as the latest notable title within the genre.
Comparisons between Marvel Rivals and Overwatch are inevitable for this reason, and they’re honestly a lot of fun. However, there is a difference between noticing overlap or parallels and assuming theft from one title to another. Certain concepts and mechanics may belong to the genre, but true identity comes from the execution of these concepts.
Competition Between the Two Games is Healthy, not harmful
If there’s one thing that has been proven from the arrival of Marvel Rivals and the history of games in this genre, it’s that competition makes each title better. Back in 2026, Overwatch entered a space shaped by TF2, a game that proved how the formula could thrive in a competitive environment. Overwatch learnt from that, built on the structure, streamlined unique aspects, and created the game we all know as such a notable name today – not in theft, but in evolution.
However, it’s also noted by many fans of the game that the only real competition Overwatch has had since then was Paladins. Until Marvel Rivals came along, that is. And Rivals happened to arrive at a very important time, when Overwatch fans were feeling major frustration towards the game and the direction it had fallen into with Overwatch 2.
Why the Arrival of Marvel Rivals Had Such an Impact on Overwatch
Marvel Rivals entered the scene and gave Overwatch the shock of the first real competition it had encountered in a long time. While the game had felt like it had become stagnant, Rivals caused Overwatch to adapt, to rethink hero design, to introduce new aspects, and recapture the attention of the community. This is the exact kind of healthy competition and pressure that results in innovation.
We’re already seeing that occur. Overwatch’s recent refresh and huge hero rollout signal that the devs understand the community wants and needs more from the world of Overwatch. These hero rollouts more closely match the more consistent schedule of Rivals hero releases. Meanwhile, Marvel Rivals has to prove that it can maintain strong gameplay depth and balance over an extended time, rather than relying on the power of the Marvel IP alone. This tension between the two titles is not a confrontation, but instead a healthy balance to keep one another on their toes.
Why Both Games Learning From One Another is So Important
It is these shared aspects that allow games to improve, and both games will need to continue to learn from one another to strengthen the Hero Shooter genre in general. Sometimes, these games will borrow ideas, reinvent concepts, and refine existing mechanics. Sometimes, this will result in one game outdoing the other with these particular aspects/mechanics – It’s all a part of building the best Hero Shooters possible.
Hero Shooters really need this kind of momentum right now. It’s a space that has seen peaks and dips time and time again, and expectations from players are higher than ever with live-service fatigue. In order for both Marvel Rivals and Overwatch to survive, they must challenge one another and push new ideas to stay interesting. This is actually better for players, too. More competition means better updated, bolder experiments and concepts, and more community voice being taken into account.
Neither Overwatch nor Marvel Rivals is a threat to one another’s identity, but rather the presence of one another creates the opportunity to evolve in ways that may not been possible if that competition was never put in place. There’s no getting around the fact that both games will be compared for as long as they continue to share the same genre, so it is very important that they learn from one another.
This does not mean copying. This means observing interesting ideas, mechanics, and even abilities, and considering how they could be refined or built upon for their own game, under a different lens. If one game produces a mechanic or idea that makes team coordination more exciting, a gameplay mode that appears incredibly satisfying, or a new hero that offers a fresh idea for the hero shooter genre, then the other should explore their own interpretation of such concepts.
The Future of the Hero Shooter Genre is Brighter Through Competition
Players now get to choose which execution of these familiar hero roles and hero shooter gameplay mechanics they prefer through both Overwatch and Marvel Rivals. Rather than framing each new reveal as theft, it is far more productive to consider it proof of the Hero Shooter genre living on and these titles learning from one another. With Marvel Rivals success, Overwatch has to stay sharp. If Overwatch creates something exceptional, then Marvel Rivals must step up. It’s a healthy cycle that ensures better balance, stronger updates, thoughtful hero design, and generally a higher standard overall.
And the real truth? There’s room in this space for more than one major contender. In fact, having multiple contenders is much better for the genre because players don’t really want exclusivity – they want satisfying, entertaining games. Having two titles learn from one another and refine their own identities is far more exciting for the future than pretending only one of them has the right to exist in this space.
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