Marvel Rivals, currently dominating Steam and Twitch charts, faces a growing controversy: the suspected presence of bots in its matches. Despite its critical acclaim and popularity—boasting hundreds of thousands of daily Steam players (via SteamDB)—concerns are mounting over AI opponents in Quickplay modes.
Many players express frustration, arguing that AI should be confined to practice modes. One Reddit user commented, "Playing against bots in Quickplay just doesn’t feel good...AI should be in AI modes and that’s it."
Marvel Rivals, like many multiplayer games, features practice modes with adjustable AI difficulty. However, the issue lies in the suspected inclusion of bots in standard Quickplay matches. Social media is awash with reports of players encountering low-level bot opponents and even bot teammates. The suspected trigger? Too many consecutive losses, potentially designed to prevent player frustration and maintain quick matchmaking.
NetEase, however, remains silent on the matter (IGN has requested comment). Players have attempted to identify bots through various indicators: repetitive in-game behavior, similar player names (often single words in all caps, or name combinations like a full name paired with a partial name), and most notably, enemy profiles labeled "restricted."
Another Reddit user highlighted the lack of transparency: "The fact that you can even get bot games after wins and that the game doesn't tell you that you're against bots is what gets me...You don't want to learn new heroes in comp...but if you try to learn a hero in Quickplay you now have to second guess if you actually are getting any better..."
The use of bots in multiplayer games is not new, but the lack of transparency in Marvel Rivals has fueled the debate. Some players advocate for a toggle to enable or disable bot matches, while others demand their complete removal. Conversely, some players utilize bot matches for achievement completion. Reddit user ciaranxy initiated a community discussion, emphasizing the lack of player choice: "So, you can choose to believe this is an issue or not – that is your CHOICE...But – for everyone else – when you press Quickplay, NetEase does not give you a choice.”
Personal experience confirms the existence of suspicious Quickplay matches exhibiting characteristics reported by other players: unnatural player movement, similar names, and restricted profiles among teammates and opponents. NetEase has been contacted for clarification.
While the bot controversy unfolds, players are exploring strategies to counter them, such as using Invisible Woman to disrupt bot actions (see: [ttpp]). Despite this, NetEase's future plans for Marvel Rivals remain ambitious, including the Fantastic Four in Season 1: Eternal Night Falls, a new hero every half-season, and the upcoming Peter Parker's Advanced Suit 2.0 skin from Marvel's Spider-Man.
