Marvel Rivals is off to a flying start and has crossplay right out of the gate, but the game is still missing a few key features. Currently, each platform has different progression tracking. NetEase Games says that cross-progression is under active development, but it could still be a long way off.
Tracking progression across multiple platforms involves a bit of technical wizardry. It took four years for a feature like that to come to Apex Legends, so we have our fingers crossed it won’t take that long to reach Marvel Rivals.
In an interview with Dot Esports, creative director Guangyun Chen said, “Cross-progression involves a lot of platform-specific rules, we’re still looking at it and how to solve it. Once the team is ready, once we’ve figured it out, we’ll be sharing to everyone and players will be the first to know.”
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In most cases, cross-progression relies on players using a centralized account. NetEase Games already has its own account system, but it isn’t required for Marvel Rivals. Instead, you can choose to link your account to Twitch for in-game rewards. That’s less helpful, but the existence of NetEase Games accounts means that cross-progression might be closer than anticipated.
That’s not to say there are obstacles. Sony supposedly has a revenue sharing requirement for any cross-platform content, implying that the devs may be required to give Playstation a cut of the profits from sales. The information comes from a post on X several years ago, but the subject was revisited more recently during the Microsoft-Activision merger.
Sony also had a cross-play revenue share agreement where some partners had to pay a royalty to Sony to "offset the reduction in revenue" from enabling cross-play pic.twitter.com/0vLLx0bKZl
— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) May 3, 2021
Path of Exile 2 dealt with a similar situation by enabling cross-progression with PlayStation, but splitting all microtransactions into PlayStation and non-PlayStation purchases. NetEase Games has a variety of options for how to address potential obstacles, so we remain optimistic that cross-progression won’t be too far away.
Marvel Rivals just announced a major update on December 20 alongside extra content and new skins, so if you’ve been on the fence about trying the game out, now is a great time to dive in.
