‘Marvel Rivals’ apologises after trying to ban negative reviews

Marvel Rivals developer NetEase has apologised after trying to ban negative comments from players.

As part of NetEase’s content creator platform, a number of players were offered early access to Marvel Rivals so they could create content, review the game and share their opinions on it with the world.

However, in order to take part, players were required to sign a lengthy agreement that included a “non-disparagement” clause, forbidding them from making any public statements or engaging in discussions that are “detrimental to the reputation of the game”. This included making “malicious comparisons with competitors or belittling the gameplay” while making “disparaging or satirical comments” about the game was also forbidden, according to the agreement.

However, this agreement was met with swift backlash from a number of players. “Extremely disappointed in Marvel Rivals,” wrote streamer Brandon Larned. “The contract signs away your right to negatively review the game.”

Extremely disappointed in @MarvelRivals.

Multiple creators asked for key codes to gain access to the playtest and are asked to sign a contract.

The contract signs away your right to negatively review the game.

Many streamers have signed without reading just to play

Insanity. pic.twitter.com/c11BUDyka9

— Brandon Larned (@A_Seagull) May 12, 2024

“It kinda screams ‘my game is shit’ if they put in the contract you can’t talk bad about it,” added another fan.

Now NetEase has released a statement apologising for the clause and offered to revise the terms. “We would like to apologise for any unpleasant experiences or doubts caused by the miscommunication of these terms,” it read.

“The content creator program is a small-scale project that aims to aid in the production of incredible content by supporting creators through giving them more resources,” the statement continued. “We actively encourage creators to share their honest thoughts, suggestions, and criticisms as they play. All feedback, positive and negative, ultimately helps us craft the best experience for ourselves and the players.”

Dear Marvel Rivals players,

Today is the third day of the Closed Alpha Test, and we are truly grateful for all the love and support from the community.

We would like to take this opportunity to address the concerns we’ve seen regarding the agreement terms of Content Creator…

— Marvel Rivals (@MarvelRivals) May 13, 2024

“We sincerely apologise for the confusion, suspicion, and frustration caused by these excessively restrictive terms and thank you for sharing with us,” it added, before Marvel Rivals confirmed it was working with players to make the terms of the agreement “ less restrictive and more creator-friendly.”

Marvel Rivals was announced earlier this year and is an Overwatch-inspired, free-to-play cooperative PVP shooter that lets players assemble an all-star squad from across Marvel’s catalogue of characters and take to a number of destructible maps from across the multiverse. A release date has yet to be confirmed.

In other news, it’s been confirmed that Helldivers 2 has now sold over 12million units.