Marvel Studios and Marvel Rivals have just announced their biggest collaboration yet. The uber-popular NetEase Games online superhero shooter has not been shy in showing its love for the MCU in its first year on the market. However, to this point, these scant moments of super-powered brand synergy have been exclusively reserved for special themed cosmetics and nothing more.
Rivals will break this streak with a new MCU-themed update, as the fan-favorite multiplayer game gets its first-ever Marvel Studios game mode. Inspired by the recently released Marvel Zombies Disney+ series, Marvel Rivals' new limited-time PvE game mode will arrive just in time for Halloween, debuting on Thursday, October 23.
Rivals shared the news on social media, accompanied by a new trailer that featured Marvel Rivals executive producer Danny Koo and Marvel Studios' head of streaming, television, and animation, Brad Winderbaum, detailing the mode:
"The first-ever PvE mode: Marvel Zombies is coming on Oct 23, 2025 UTC.
This new mode throws you and your squad into a relentless fight for survival against endless waves of the undead.
The city's burning, the infected are rising - and it's up to you to hold the line.
Get a sneak peek now, and stay tuned for the official trailer coming soon!"
The Marvel Zombies event will see players warding off waves of zombie foes, before eventually taking on the terrifying Queen of the Dead (aka Wanda Maximoff) as a final boss.
This is the closest collaboration between Rivals and Marvel Studios to date. So far, various costumes inspired by looks from the MCU have made it into the hit shooter, but nothing has come anywhere near as in-depth as a bespoke experience like this new Marvel Zombies gameplay experience.
Marvel Rivals is available now on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC. The NetEase Games free-to-play title allows players to assume the roles of various heroes and villains from across the Marvel universe, engaging in PvP battles against players worldwide.
The Possible Future of the MCU/Marvel Rivals Relationship?
Hopefully, this is just the start of a long and fruitful relationship between the Marvel Rivals team and Marvel Studios.
It seems obvious that Rivals will continue to sprinkle in MCU-themed cosmetics for fans to purchase as the months go on. In a free-to-play game like the NetEase shooter, movie-inspired costumes of classic MCU heroes make sense.
But this Marvel Zombies collaboration could be the first hint of even more connective tissue between the two Marvel brands.
Fans have seen major tie-in events for the MCU in games like Fortnite, but with Rivals now under the Marvel banner, perhaps that is where they will take these kinds of promotional activations in the future.
Next year, Avengers: Doomsday will come to theaters, sending the MCU's Earth's Mightiest Heroes on a quest across the Multiverse. There is a chance that Marvel Studios will opt to partner with Rivals again for that film, crafting another bespoke experience inspired by the upcoming movie.
This could be another PvE game mode in which a team of players takes on Doctor Doom's forces across the Marvel Multiverse, hyping up the new film, while providing Rivals players with another MCU-tinged gaming experience.
