Greetings, Rivals!
Season 5 is about to launch! Gambit and Rogue embark on a honeymoon full of surprises in the cosmic paradise created by the Elders of the Universe!
Gambit is the first to play his hand!
The update begins on November 14th, 2025, at 09 : 00 : 00 (UTC), with estimated maintenance lasting 2 hours.
All-New Content
New Hero
Gambit goes all in on Marvel Rivals!
New Map
Times Square: A non-combat map where players can interact, hang out, and enjoy various activities.
New Stories
1. New Serial - Love is a Battlefield
2. New Gambit Lore - Deal of a Lifetime
New Systems
1. Home background can now be set to randomly rotate.
2. Added All-New Interactive Emotes: Now you can join other heroes in performing interactive emotes and engage together on the battlefield! Some existing dance emotes have been upgraded to interactive versions.
3. Cross-progression account linking is now fully available.
4. Xbox: Added new Discord linking and cross-platform chat.
5. Xbox & PC: Added an option to hide unlinked Discord friends in-game.
New In Store
1. Gambit - Thieves Guildmaster Bundle
2. Magneto - Temporal Tyrant Bundle
3. Gambit - Thieves Guildmaster Emoji Bundle
4. Gambit - Crimson Heart
Available from: November 14th, 2025, at 09 : 00 : 00 (UTC)
S5 Battle Pass
Enjoy a Grand Garden Adventure with the new Battle Pass featuring 10 all-new sets of heroic costumes! We hope you enjoy it!
Season Event
Leave your mark in the season event, Elders' Chessboard. Complete missions to earn a FREE costume: Spider-Man - Iron Spider!
Competitive
To ease competitive pressure, we've adjusted ranked rewards:
1. Gold-tier rewards remain the same; one costume per half-season. Season 5.0 Gold-tier costume reward is Gambit - Sacrificial Pawn.
2. Crests of Honor (inc. Top 500) and Nameplate Frame rewards are now granted once per season at the season's end.
Competitive Team Limit Adjustments:
1. Bronze to Grandmaster: Team up with any party size except five-stack.
2. Celestial/Eternity/One Above All: Only solo or duo queue allowed.
Placement Matches
From Season 5 onward, your first 10 ranked matches are Placement Matches. Your performance determines your starting tier.
Placement Rules
1.1 Predicted vs. Actual Rank
• During placement matches, you will receive a predicted rank reflecting your estimated skill level. This predicted rank is used for matchmaking and team formation during placement matches.
• Predicted rank is not your final rank. After completing all 10 placement matches, you will be assigned your actual rank, which may differ from your predicted rank.
• If you don't finish all placement matches this season, you will not receive any season rewards.
• If you complete placement matches in the first half of the season, you'll keep that rank in the second half. If you don't finish placements in the first half, you must complete them in the second half to be eligible for ranked rewards.
Reward Rules:
• To earn the Gold tier costume reward for a half-season, you must complete 10 ranked matches in that season's half and finish at Gold rank or higher at the end of the half-season.
• To receive season-end rewards, you must complete placement matches and meet the required rank at season's end.
Example:
If you finish 9 placement matches in the first half of the season with an estimated rank of Platinum III, but don't complete the 10th match, you won't get the Gold costume reward. If you complete your 10th placement match in the second half of the season, you'll be eligible for season-end rewards but not both halves' Gold costumes.
If you play 10 ranked matches in both halves of the season, you'll be eligible for both Gold costumes and the season-end rewards.
Additionally, if you don't finish 10 placement matches in Season 5, your Season 6 initial estimated rank for placement matches will be Platinum III.
1.2 First-Time Placement
When doing placements for the first time (regardless of season), your initial estimated rank is determined by two criteria:
• Initial Estimated Rank A: If you played 10 or more ranked matches in Season 4, your Season 5 placement matches estimated starting rank is your Season 4 final rank minus 3 divisions. Please note that players ranked in the Celestial II, Celestial I, Eternity, and One Above All in Season 4 will be uniformly reset to Grandmaster II as their initial estimated rank for the new season. Players in Bronze III, Bronze II, Bronze I, and Silver III will start at Bronze III as their initial estimated rank.
• Initial Estimated Rank B: We'll also check your highest historical rank from any previous season with 10+ matches, subtract some sub-tiers, and set this as your historical initial rank for placement matches (capped at Platinum II).
Your higher result from A or B becomes your initial predicted rank.
Example: If A gives Gold I and B gives Platinum III, you start placement matches at Platinum III.
If you do not complete 10 placement matches in Season 5, the same rules will apply the next time you do placements.
1.3 Subsequent Placements
If you've completed 10 placements and received a true rank in a previous season, future initial estimated ranks are based on your last season's final rank minus 3 sub-tiers.
Again, players ranked in the Celestial II, Celestial I, Eternity, and One Above All will be uniformly reset to Grandmaster II as their initial estimated rank for the new season. Players in Bronze III, Bronze II, Bronze I, and Silver III will start at Bronze III as their initial estimated rank.
In such circumstances, the highest rank achieved previously will no longer be taken into account.
1.4 New Players
If you have never played 10 ranked matches in a season, you are considered a new player and will start at Silver III estimated rank.
2 Match Results
Your final placement after completing placement matches is closely tied to wins and losses across the ten matches. Each victory or defeat moves your current estimated rank and shows roughly where you stand. After all placement matches:
• You can be placed up to 1–2 divisions above your previous season's final rank, but you will not be placed higher than Celestial I.
• Your lowest possible placement varies by tier but will not be lower than Bronze III.
• If you go 5 wins and 5 losses, your final placement will be close to your initial estimated rank.
3 Placement Matchmaking
3.1 Team Restrictions
While any player is in placement matches, they may only queue in teams of up to three players. For teams that include at least one player in placement matches, the difference between the highest-ranked and lowest-ranked player in the party must be less than 3 divisions. If stricter party limits apply (for example, if the party contains players at Celestial/Eternity/One Above All tiers), those stricter limits will take precedence.
3.2 Matchmaking Rules
If a team contains any player in placement matches, the matchmaking will use the highest-ranked player in the team as the search anchor when finding teammates and opponents.
4 Penalty Rules
1. If a player in placement matches experiences a disconnect, reconnect timeout, inactivity, or similar violation, penalties depend on timing:
• If the match ends within 90 seconds of their disconnect:
Normal settlement based on match result and stats; no penalty.
• If the match ends more than 90 seconds after their disconnect, that player will be marked as a loss for the placement match, will receive a ranked suspension, and an offense count will be recorded, regardless of match outcome.
• If the player is judged to have deliberately AFK: if the team wins, no penalty is applied; if the team loses, the placement match result is result is calculated, they receive a ranked suspension, and an offense count is recorded.
2. If squad members (members of your stack) of a player in placement matches experience a disconnect, reconnect timeout, or similar violation, penalties depend on timing:
• If the match ends within 90 seconds of their disconnect:
Normal settlement based on match result and stats; no penalty to the squad member.
• If the match ends more than 90 seconds after the squad member disconnects: Victory: normal settlement; no penalty. Defeat: A loss will be recorded for the placement match player, but no ranked suspension.
3. If teammates (other players you get matched with) of a player in placement matches experience a disconnect, reconnect timeout, or similar violation, penalties depend on timing:
• If the match ends within 90 seconds of the teammate's disconnect:
Normal settlement based on match result and stats.
• If the match ends more than 90 seconds after the teammate disconnects: Victory: normal settlement; no penalty. Defeat: The match shall be deemed invalid, meaning the data from this match shall not be counted towards the rank calculation for the placement match player.
Accessories
New accessories for Gambit, Human Torch, Magik, Mantis, Wolverine, Phoenix, Thor, Loki, Moon Knight, and Star-Lord.
Twitch Drops
As Season 5.0 kicks off, get ready for a new round of Twitch Drops. Simply accumulate the required viewing time to claim your rewards.
This round's drops include the Phoenix - Will of Galacta costume along with related bundle content.
Drops Period: November 14th, 2025, at 12 : 00 : 00 (UTC) to December 12th, 2025, at 09 : 00 : 00 (UTC)
College Perks
College Perk costumes are changing to the following:
Invisible Woman - The Life Fantastic
Mister Fantastic - The Life Fantastic
Iron Man - Avengers: Endgame
Star-Lord - King of Spartax
Cloak & Dagger - Twilight Duo
Ultron - X-Tron
Moon Knight - Fist Of Vengeance
Hulk - Punk Rage
The Thing - Future Foundation
Adam Warlock - Immortal Avatar
Fixes and Optimizations
All Platforms
1. Significant CPU logic and rendering performance improvements.
PC
1. Intel® XeSS Frame Generation now supports non-Intel GPUs (requires Shader Model 6.4).
2. Performance testing tool reworked for more accurate in-game CPU performance.
3. CPU RHI thread consumption is now displayed for pinpointing CPU bottlenecks.
Console
1. Major reduction in game client file size.
Heroes
1. Peni Parker's Venom Vision: We've fixed a bug where Peni Parker, while using the VEN#m costume, could spot Arachno-Mine outlines through walls. With great power comes great responsibility, and now, no more wall hacks! Her spider-sense is back to being street legal.
2. Queen of the Dead's Shield Shenanigans: In Marvel Zombies Nightmare IV difficulty, The Queen of The Dead's overlapping shields were so tough that Magik's Eldritch Whirl couldn't scratch the surface. We've dispelled this dark sorcery; now Magik's blade can cut through the chaos!
3. Ultron's Ulti-Undercut: When Ultron summoned his drone minions with his Ultimate Ability, allies and enemies alike couldn't see their dazzling projectile effects or hear their menacing sounds. We've upgraded his programming. Now, Ultron's army brings both the noise and the spectacle. Resistance is futile!
The Marvel Rivals universe is ever-evolving, and we have plenty more surprises in store for Season 5 and updates on the horizon. Stay tuned to our official announcements for more!