Is Marvel Rivals just a cheap Chinese clone of Overwatch? At least that’s what Mike Ybarra thinks – and he embarrasses himself quite unpleasantly.
Marvel Rivals was released a few days ago and is being received pretty well by many fans. The hero shooter naturally reminds one of games like Overwatch, as there are many parallels. Former Blizzard head Mike Ybarra apparently thought so too – but he would have preferred to think a moment longer about his words. Because now he has embarrassed himself with amusing accusations.
What happened? On the platform X, former Blizzard head Mike Ybarra commented on the new game Marvel Rivals. He criticized the similarity to Overwatch and wrote:
“Looks like Overwatch will be released tomorrow as Marvel Rivals. Similar to Light of Motiram (a clear copy of Horizon Zero Dawn) from China. I mean, even the character names – Widowmaker in Overwatch vs. Black Widow in Marvel Rivals lol. NetEase/TenCent – all the same.”
How did Ybarra embarrass himself? It didn’t take long for his tweet to receive a “Community Note.” If particularly many users find a post misleading or incorrect, such a note can be added to provide more context and correct errors. The community added:
“Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, is a popular Marvel heroine who made her comic debut in 1964, more than 50 years before Overwatch and Widowmaker were created.”
What this implies: If someone was inspired by design or name, it was more likely Blizzard looking to Marvel and not the other way around.
Mike Ybarra has since deleted his tweet, but according to the good old rule “the internet never forgets,” many screenshots were taken, and the community is amused.
It is clear that Marvel Rivals and Overwatch do indeed have some parallels – just like almost all hero shooters share a similar core that constitutes the entire genre. Who took inspiration from whom in character design or gameplay is questionable.
Ultimately, Blizzard has a tradition of taking good game ideas from other companies and improving them. When a former Blizzard head complains that a game is a clone… it’s a bit ironic: Marvel Rivals started extremely successfully – more than 400,000 players online simultaneously.
