After weeks of speculation, the recent PlayStation Showcase confirms that a Marvel Rivals console beta is finally headed to PS5 and Xbox. The forthcoming hero shooter from NetEase Games brings together a roster of Marvel’s most beloved characters, but fans of Spider-Man are going to be in for disappointment – if you’re playing Marvel Rivals on Xbox, that is. Yes, Sony is pulling the exclusivity card once again as the Marvel Rivals beta draws closer.
Don’t worry, Xbox players, you’ll still get to play as webhead in Marvel Rivals, but you just won’t be graced with some stylish drip within the arena. Instead, PS5 players who dive into the Marvel Rivals console beta will be rewarded with an exclusive Scarlet Spider costume purely for playing. However, this isn’t the standard iteration of Ben Reilly that Spidey fans are accustomed to, it seems. This multiplayer game iteration appears to be based off of the Kaine Parker variant, a clone of Peter Parker created by the villainous Jackal.
Kaine Parker first debuted in Spider-Man comics back in October 1994, and has featured in several runs over the years. If withholding Spider-Man goodies is making your Spidey senses tingle, then that’s because it isn’t the first time Sony has restricted the wallcrawler to its platforms. The highly underrated and overrated Marvel’s Avengers kept Spider-Man locked to PlayStation platforms, even when the game’s official support ended last September.
Whether Marvel Rivals will be as strict remains to be seen, but we don’t see the Scarlet Spider skin appearing on Xbox anytime soon, as Sony is pretty protective of its Spider-Man privileges.
Regardless of whether you’re a fan of Spider-Man, the good news is that players on both Xbox and PS5 can play together in July this year, which is when the Marvel Rivals beta is scheduled to launch. It is likely that this will last for around two weeks, as the PlayStation Showcase notes that the full game is currently in development. We wouldn’t blame you if you were put off by its initial gameplay footage earlier this year, but NetEase Games could be onto something special if it can truly defy the Overwatch comparisons.
Maybe it’ll become one of the best PS5 games around, but it’ll have to compete for the co-op game scene, as Concord is also on the horizon.
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