Marvel Rivals Issues Apology for Wrongful Bans; Players Demand Rank-Inclusive Character Bans
NetEase, the developer of Marvel Rivals, issued a public apology for mistakenly banning numerous innocent players. The incident, which occurred on January 3rd, saw a significant number of non-Windows users—those playing on macOS, Linux, and Steam Deck using compatibility layers—incorrectly flagged as cheaters. This occurred during a large-scale ban wave targeting actual cheaters.
The developer acknowledged the error, stating that players utilizing compatibility software, such as Proton on Steam Deck, were mistakenly identified as using cheat programs. The bans have since been lifted, and NetEase apologized for the inconvenience. Players experiencing future issues with cheaters are encouraged to report them, while those wrongly banned can appeal via in-game support or Discord.
Separately, a significant portion of the Marvel Rivals community is advocating for a change to the game's character ban system. Currently, character bans—a feature allowing players to remove specific characters from selection to create more balanced matches—are only available at Diamond rank and above.
Players, particularly those in lower ranks, argue that the absence of this feature creates unbalanced gameplay and limits strategic diversity. Reddit discussions highlight frustration with facing overpowered characters without the ability to counter them strategically. The consensus among many players is that implementing character bans across all ranks would improve gameplay balance, introduce newer players to the mechanic, and foster more diverse team compositions beyond simple DPS-focused strategies. NetEase has yet to publicly respond to these concerns.
