Marvel Rivals’ highly anticipated Season 2, named Hellfire Gala, has begun, enthralling players with a stunning assortment of new content. The season introduces Emma Frost, the diamond-clad X-Men vanguard, as well as a new Domination map set in the opulent Krakoa. NetEase Games has released a vivid Battle Pass with 10 new outfits, including free skins like Scarlet Witch’s Chaos Gown, which can be unlocked through gameplay. The Cerebro Database event and improved Team-Up abilities add to the experience by shaking up strategy and meta dynamics. Season 2 promises to keep the hero shooter’s momentum going, especially with Ultron on the way.
Despite the excitement, competitive players have also seen some big changes that have spurred fierce debate within the community. Following the roster additions of The Thing and Human Torch in Season 1.5, NetEase is focusing on improving the ranked experience even further. The developer’s ambition to balance ranked lobbies has resulted in radical changes that address comments from Season 1’s skipped mid-season reset. As the competitive scene advances, the stakes become increasingly high, paving the way for a modified ladder. Here are all the changes made in Marvel Rivals’ competitive mode in Season 2.
Marvel Rivals’ Season 2 introduced sweeping changes to its competitive mode, aiming to refine matchmaking, enhance strategic depth, and reward player dedication.
Season 2 brought a massive rank reset, lowering all players by nine divisions based on their Season 1.5 rankings. For example, a Diamond I player now starts at Silver I, while those below Gold II are demoted to Bronze III. This reset, the first big one since Season 1’s mid-season reset was canceled due to backlash, seeks to redistribute players for more equitable matchmaking. NetEase believes this fosters skill-based growth, but some lower-ranked players are dreading the trek back to higher ranks. The reset coincides with new content, such as Emma Frost’s addition, to renew the competitive meta.
To ensure balanced matchups, Season 2 tightened rank limitations. The minimum level required to enable competitive mode has been increased from 10 to 15, guaranteeing that players have adequate game understanding. Hero pick-and-ban phases, which were previously limited to Diamond III and higher, now begin at Gold III, allowing more players to engage in strategic bans. At the top, the Eternity and One Above All rankings are restricted to solo or duo queues, limiting predefined team advantages.
Players from Gold I to Celestial I can only queue with others in three categories, whereas Eternity players can join up with Celestial II players within 200 points. These limits are intended to improve fairness, but they have frustrated some high-ranking players wanting flexibility.
Season 2 added a competitive map rotation, limiting the pool to four maps for ranked play and esports tournaments. The new Hellfire Gala: Krakoa map, commemorating Emma Frost’s debut, has joined the rotation, while Yggsgard: Royal Palace and Tokyo 2099: Shin-Shibuya have been removed. This update is intended to streamline strategy, but it has been criticized for diminishing variation, with some players claiming it makes ranked feel repetitive. Quick Play and Custom Games preserve all maps, giving you access to the whole roster. The rotation may change again in Season 2.5, possibly returning retired maps.
The ranked rewards in Season 2 encourage players to work their way up the ladder. Gold III and above players gain access to the Golden Diamond Emma Frost costume, while Grandmaster III grants the Grandmaster Crest of Honor. Celestial III players receive the Celestial Crest and Eternity or One Above. Every player is given a combined Crest. The special Top 500 Crest of Honor is awarded at the end of the season to the top 500 players. Rewards are based on the highest rank earned, with a minimum of 10 competitive matches required to claim. These cosmetics, which cannot be purchased in the shop, provide prestige, although some players are concerned about their exclusivity vs accessibility.
The Call of Duty franchise has held a special place in my heart ever since I played my first Black Ops game back in 2010. That game's campaign was something else, with twists and turns that culminated in a mind-blowing finale. We can all admit that compared to those older campaigns, the recent CODs have been lackluster at best, and a complete and utter disappointment at worst. The reboot of Modern Warfare did give me some hope, as the first two installments were actually quite good, but the third game left such a bad taste in my mouth that I wasn’t exactly expecting much from Modern Warfare 4.
After recently finishing the campaign, I can say that this installment is nothing like the recent releases and instead feels closer to the franchise’s roots. For the first time in a long while, the campaign comes across as well-crafted rather than rushed to hit a release date. It arrives three years after MW3, and you can see exactly where all that time went. It seems the studio finally made listening to player feedback a priority.
Epic Games has just announced the 2026 Epic AI MegaJam, which is looking to see how much game development can be squeezed into a very short window. This is running from November 12 through November 15.
Participants can work alone or in teams of up to five people, build in Unreal Engine or Unreal Editor for Fortnite, and bring along “as many AI agents as you want.” Epic explicitly encourages coding agents, AI-generated assets, audio tools, writing tools, and other AI systems. The official event page literally says "Vibe your way to $50k.”
It’s turning into a pretty good time to be a Monster Hunter fan who plays on a phone. Capcom has confirmed that Monster Hunter Outlanders will launch on Android and iOS on October 29, giving the series a new mobile-first game just as Monster Hunter Rise is also preparing to make the jump to smartphones through Netflix.
Outlanders is being developed by Tencent subsidiary TiMi Studio Group under license and supervision from Capcom. Unlike Rise, which appears to be the full console and PC game adapted for mobile, Outlanders is a free-to-play survival hunting game made specifically for phones.