Marvel Rivals Issues Apology for Unfair Bans; Players Advocate for Rank-Inclusive Character Bans

NetEase, the developer of Marvel Rivals, recently issued a public apology for mistakenly banning numerous innocent players. The mass ban, intended to target cheaters, incorrectly flagged a significant number of non-Windows users.

The affected players primarily used compatibility layers such as those for macOS, Linux, and Steam Deck. NetEase's anti-cheat system apparently misidentified these compatibility layers as cheating software. The developer confirmed the issue, lifted the bans, and apologized for the inconvenience. They encouraged players to report actual cheating and offered an appeal process for wrongful bans. This isn't the first instance of Proton, the SteamOS compatibility layer, triggering anti-cheat systems.

Separately, a community debate rages regarding character bans. While the feature exists in Diamond rank and above, many players, particularly those in lower ranks, believe it should be implemented across all ranks. Reddit users express frustration with imbalanced matchups, arguing that character bans would promote strategic diversity and fairer gameplay. One user highlighted the disparity, stating that higher-ranked players enjoy the strategic depth of bans while lower-ranked players struggle with overpowered characters. The call for universal character bans aims to create a more level playing field and introduce newer players to this essential competitive element.

NetEase has yet to publicly respond to these concerns regarding character ban accessibility.