Imagine you invest a lot of time developing your game, the assets and promotional materials are ready – but just before the release on Steam, another game throws a wrench in the works. This recently happened to the developer of Rivals of Aether II.
What game are we talking about? Rivals of Aether II is a fighting game scheduled to be released on Steam on October 24, 2024. The predecessor enjoys an “extremely positive” rating of 97% on Steam and is considered a hidden gem.
However, just before release, the developer realized that his game bears an unfortunate resemblance to an upcoming NetEase title.
Warning, potential confusion? Marvel Rivals is an upcoming hero shooter.
Name change has unforeseen consequences
What was the problem? Studio head Dan Fornace wanted to deviate from the previous naming convention for his new game. The sequel to Rivals of Aether was to be called simply “Rivals 2.” Under this name, they had already held a beta weekend (via X).
The previous marketing was built around the name, and the new logo is prominently placed everywhere:
However, Rivals 2 faced unexpected competition in the form of a 6v6 shooter with superheroes. Marvel Rivals is a hero shooter by NetEase that is set to launch on December 6, 2024.
As the shooter reportedly turns out to be surprisingly good (according to first players via Reddit) – and does not fade away into obscurity – the name similarity certainly poses a problem for Fornace. To make matters worse, the font of Rivals 2 also resembled that of Marvel Rivals.
How much trust we can place in the praise for Marvel Rivals is still somewhat unclear, because: Gaming studio prohibits Twitch streamers from criticizing the new shooter featuring Marvel heroes
That a Marvel game inspired by Overwatch would throw a wrench in his plans was something he did not expect for 2024, the developer noted in a post in August – just about 2 months before his game was supposed to come out (via X).
Fans say: The old name was better anyway
So what to do? Quite simple: Rivals 2 is now back to being Rivals of Aether II and has a new logo that clearly emphasizes the “Aether.” Here you can see the direct comparison:
Fornace writes: “The feeling when you have to rename your entire game a month before release because Marvel Rivals is actually a good game.” The studio likely faced considerable effort and stress due to the last-minute renaming.
The new, old name, on the other hand, is well received by fans. Many write that they actually preferred the original title and understood why the “Aether” should be dropped. Over time, players would probably shorten the name to “Rivals” on their own anyway, one fan writes (via X). In addition, there is still the acronym “RoA.”
Most developers certainly do not take the decision to rename their game lightly. After all, one risks losing brand recognition, and marketing materials and assets may need to be laboriously recreated. However, one seems to take it a bit more lightly: Developer curses while changing the name of his game due to player annoyance – now he changes it a second time
