Marvel Rivals Issues Apology for Wrongful Bans

In a recent mishap, Marvel Rivals' developer, NetEase, inadvertently banned a significant number of innocent players in their efforts to eliminate cheaters from the game. Dive deeper into the details of this incident and understand why these bans were mistakenly applied.

Marvel Rivals Accidentally Bans Non-Cheaters

SteamDeck, Mac, And Linux Users Report Bans

In the early hours of January 3rd, NetEase, the developer behind Marvel Rivals, mistakenly banned several non-Windows users while conducting a mass ban of suspected cheaters. The community manager, James, announced on the official Marvel Rivals Discord server that "some individuals playing in compatibility layer programs have been mistakenly flagged as cheaters, even without using any cheating software." This error primarily affected players using compatibility layer software on Mac, Linux systems, and the Steam Deck.

The issue has since been addressed, with the bans being lifted for all affected players. NetEase stated, "We have identified the specific reasons behind these false bans and have compiled a list of affected players. We have lifted these bans and want to express our heartfelt apologies for the inconvenience this has caused." They encouraged players to report any actual cheating behavior and advised those wrongfully banned to appeal to the customer support team via in-game channels or Discord.

Notably, SteamOS users have faced similar issues before due to their compatibility layer, Proton, which can mistakenly trigger certain anti-cheat systems.

In-Game Character Bans Should Be For All

On a different note, competitive players of Marvel Rivals are advocating for a feature that's currently exclusive to higher ranks: character bans. This feature allows teams to exclude certain characters from being selected, which can prevent unfavorable matchups and encourage strategic diversity by forcing players to use different heroes.

Currently, Marvel Rivals offers this feature only to players ranked Diamond and above. This has sparked frustration among the community, as evident from discussions on the game's subreddit. User Expert_Recover_7050 vented, "Over and over again. Can't ban it, can't beat it. Yeah I know YOU on your 17th alt 'bronze to grandmaster challenge' for your next YouTube video can beat plat players in this comp but me, as a DESERVINGLY SO plat player can not beat other plat players when they have such disgusting advantages. Why can diamond+ players have fun in the game but we can't?"

Many high-ranking players support this view, arguing that extending character bans to all ranks could enhance game balance and provide more strategic options. As one Reddit user put it, "Bans are soft balancing that makes the game tolerable."

NetEase has yet to respond to these community concerns, but the demand for more inclusive features continues to grow.