Marvel Rivals monetization practice should be the standard for gaming industry

Marvel Rivals is turning out to be a gift to the gaming industry. The game, developed by NetEase Games, recently revealed its monetization strategy. Although it is free to play, players expected it to charge for skins and weapons each season.

While NetEase Games is implementing such charges, it is doing so in a unique manner that could set a new standard in the gaming industry. Before delving into the details, it's important to understand the title's monetization strategy.

Note: Some aspects of this article are subjective and reflect the writer's opinions

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Understanding Marvel Rivals' monetization strategy

Marvel Rivals recently revealed Dev Talk 07, which discusses how the game will monetize itself. NetEase Games made it clear that the maps, heroes, and other gameplay elements will remain completely free. They will charge for cosmetics to give a new look to heroes and weapons. However, there will be no perks or pay-to-win elements attached to cosmetics.

Marvel Rivals Loki Season 2 Bundle (Image via NetEase Games)

Speaking of in-game currencies, players will have two primary ones: Lattice (gold currency) and Unit (blue currency).

Only Lattice can be purchased. The pricing (based on Steam's U.S. region) is as follows:

• Standard Price: $0.99 = 100 Lattice
• Top-Tier Price: $99.99 = 11,680 Lattice

Players can exchange Lattice for Units in a 1:1 ratio. Furthermore, Units will be up for grabs for free via the Battle Pass, Achievements, and Events.

The cosmetic items will be sold as bundles in the in-game shop. A standard bundle will contain five items, namely:

• Costume
• MVP animation
• Emote
• Spray
• Nameplate

The prices of these bundles are mentioned below:

• Standard Epic-Quality Bundle: 1,600 Units (Standard value: 2,200 Units, -28% discount)
• Standard Epic-Quality MCU Bundle: 1,800 Units (Standard value: 2,400 Units, -25% discount)
• Standard Legendary-Quality Bundle: 2,400 Units (Standard value: 3,300 Units, -28% discount)

While the currency and bundle pricing are decent and affordable, the approach taken by NetEase Games to develop the Battle Pass is what other developers should follow.

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Marvel Rivals Battle Pass: A fresh approach to the free-to-play genre

The Season 0 Battle Pass of the game, Chronovium, will feature Mantis donning a Vibranium suit in the Galactic Wings bundle. Players opting for the free Battle Pass track will have access to one costume only.

Season 0 Battle Pass Chorovium (Image via NetEase Games)

Apart from that, there are five costumes and cosmetics in the S0 Luxury Battle Pass. It will cost 490 Lattices and has items worth 8,000 Units in it.

However, what stands out from other freemium titles is a promise made by Marvel Rivals, that says:

"Once you purchase a Luxury Battle Pass, you can continue to redeem its rewards in subsequent seasons if you don’t finish it during the current season. There’s no need to worry about not having enough time to complete it."

This means once you have bought a Luxury Battle Pass, you can take your own time to obtain the skins. If you bought a Battle Pass in S1, you can still obtain those skins even after S2 rolls out. This is a new approach in the free-to-play genre.

Usually, other free-to-play titles with paid cosmetics rely on limited-time Battle Pass skins to create a sense of fear of missing out on players. However, the NetEase Games title is doing the opposite by giving players time to obtain skins.

In addition, free Units can be obtained via achievements and events. This allows players grinding the game on the Free Battle Pass track to purchase paid cosmetics without spending money.

With NetEase Games actively listening to the community, Marvel Rivals is on track to garner a huge player base. The game is out on December 6, 2024, at 00:00 UTC.