NetEase Unleashes Strict Penalties on Leavers in Marvel Rivals Season 3.5 Update

The Marvel Rivals Season 3.5 update is now available, primarily targeting players who abandon or are inactive in matches, while also offering compensation to their affected teammates.

Addressing persistent issues with players leaving competitive matches, developer NetEase has significantly increased penalties in this update. Players who frequently abandon or go AFK in competitive play will face more frequent temporary bans, with repeat offenders potentially banned for over 20 hours. Quick matches also have penalties, though less severe, with bans up to eight hours for repeat offenders.

To mitigate the impact on teammates, if a player disconnects or goes AFK within the first 70 seconds of a competitive 6v6 match, the game will be voided. The offending player will be penalized, but their teammates will not suffer any negative consequences. Should a disconnected or AFK player rejoin and their team wins, they avoid penalties. However, if their team loses, they will be penalized. In such losing scenarios, the remaining active teammates will receive ranked-point compensation to soften the defeat.

Matchmaking has also been adjusted for higher ranks. Platinum, Diamond, and Grandmaster players can now only queue in teams of up to three, while Celestial, Eternity, and One Above All players are limited to two-player teams.

Beyond these core changes, the patch introduces several other improvements. PC users will now benefit from background shader compilation, while all players can utilize emotes and zoom out in the team lobby. Costume-specific voice lines and sound effects can now be toggled. A notable gameplay tweak includes enhanced audio cues for Wolverine and Black Panther, allowing opponents a better chance to detect their stealthy approaches.

Season 3.5 also introduces Blade to the superhero lineup and revises several team-up abilities. NetEase had previously announced voice chat recording and AI screening for toxicity, followed by human review for disciplinary actions. The complete patch notes are detailed below.

Marvel Rivals Season 3.5 Patch Notes

All Platforms

New Hero

Blade is on his feet and itching to join the fight in Marvel Rivals!

New Stories

• New lore for Blade: “Cut to The Chase”
• New lore for Iron Man: “The Celestial Iron Man”
• New lore for Rocket Raccoon: “The Deepest Bond”

Limited-Time Event: Queen`s Codex

The Queen is coming! Battle to earn XP and level up to earn rewards, including the The Thing – Symbiote Thing costume absolutely FREE!

Unlock the Premium Codex to claim even more rewards, such as the Hela – Queen in Black costume, an all-new dynamic spray, and more! Plus, once you unlock Premium, you gain permanent access to the event until all rewards are claimed. No time limit!

Available from: August 8, 2025, at 09:00 UTC

New Systems

1. Custom Muted Words: Players can now define personal word filters for chat, automatically filtering out unwanted terms.
2. Faction Tab in Chat: Added a new Faction tab to the chat system.

New In Store

1. Blade – Polarity Edge Bundle
2. Blade – Emoji Bundle
3. Blade Dynamic Mood Bundle

Available from: August 8, 2025, at 09:00 UTC

Twitch Drops

As Season 3.5 kicks off, get ready for a new round of Twitch Drops. Accumulate required viewing time to earn rewards.

This round`s drops include the Mantis – Will of Galacta costume along with related bundle content.

Drops Period: August 8, 2025, 12:00 UTC to September 5, 2025, 09:00 UTC

Tournaments

1. The S3 Marvel Rivals Championship now includes latency equalization technology to ensure fairer matches by auto-balancing ping differences caused by server or geographic disparities.
2. A new `Balance Latency` option has been added to Custom Game Tournament Rooms, allowing hosts to enable it and set thresholds.

Rank Adjustments

Rank Rewards

New Rank Settlement Rewards: Achieve Gold rank for the Blade – Emerald Blade costume. New Nameplate Frames are available at Diamond and Platinum, with new Crests of Honor for Grandmaster, Celestial, Eternity, and Top 500.

Team Matchmaking Adjustments

1. Players in Bronze, Silver, and Gold can queue for Competitive in any team size except 5-player teams.
2. Players in Platinum, Diamond, and Grandmaster can queue for Competitive in teams of up to 3 players.
3. Players in Celestial, Eternity, and One Above All can queue for Competitive in teams of up to 2 players.

Surrender & Disconnect Rule Adjustments

Surrender Trigger: In the first round, if a player disconnects and does not reconnect within 90 seconds, their team may vote to surrender. The vote passes with one less than the current team members (e.g., 3 votes needed if 4 players remain).

Disconnect Penalty and Compensation Adjustments

Invalid Matches

If any player disconnects during loading, ban/pick phase, hero select, or within the first 70 seconds of a match, the match is deemed invalid. The disconnected player receives a T1 Penalty that scales with repeated offenses and penalty count increases. For other players, the match ends with no result or penalty.

Valid Matches

If a player disconnects after 70 seconds, the following applies:

1. Disconnected player does NOT reconnect before the match ends:

• If the match ends within 90 seconds of their disconnect: Normal settlement; no penalty.
• If the match ends 90-150 seconds after their disconnect: Disconnected player receives a T1 Point Penalty and Competitive Matchmaking Ban (both scale with repeat offenses) and increased penalty count (win or lose). If the disconnected team loses, remaining teammates receive ranked point compensation.
• If the match ends 150+ seconds after their disconnect: Disconnected player receives a T2 Point Penalty and Competitive Matchmaking Ban (both scale with repeat offenses) and increased penalty count (win or lose). If the disconnected team loses, remaining teammates receive ranked point compensation.

2. Disconnected player RECONNECTS before the match ends:

• If their team wins: Normal settlement; no penalty.
• If their team loses: Penalty is based on disconnect-to-reconnect time (as above), but no Competitive Matchmaking Ban.
• Teammates receive compensation for a loss only if the disconnect lasted over 90 seconds.

AFK Penalty Adjustments

Invalid Matches

If a player is detected AFK within the first 70 seconds, the match is invalid:

• Inactive Player: T2 Penalty (scaling with repeat offenses) and increased penalty count.
• Other Players: Match ends immediately with no result or deductions.

Valid Matches

If a player is detected AFK after the first 70 seconds:

• If their team wins: Normal settlement; no penalty.
• If their team loses: Inactive player receives a T2 Penalty and Competitive Matchmaking Ban (scaling with repeat offenses) and increased penalty count. Teammates do not receive compensation.

Combined AFK & Disconnect Penalty

1. If a player is both inactive and disconnects, the highest penalty applies.
2. If a team is faced with both inactive and disconnected players and that team loses, compensation is granted to active teammates.

Quick Match Penalties

In Quick Match mode, NetEase has also strengthened the penalty duration for players who disconnect and leave the game.

NetEase will continue to monitor disconnections and early exits in both Ranked and Quick Match modes, adjusting rules as needed. Players who believe they were wrongly penalized should contact customer support for review.

Fixes and Optimizations

All Platforms

• Rank reward Nameplate Frames are now visible in more areas, including the lobby, career profile, friends list, faction, leaderboards, gifts, invites, and custom games.
• The hero display in the team lobby now supports camera scrolling, allowing players to zoom out and use emotes, which are visible to teammates in real time.
• Costume-specific voice and sound effect settings have been relocated from Audio Settings to Hero Profile > Costumes, enabling individual toggling for supported costumes.
• Improved Venom`s `Tickle Me Pink` emote animation for his default costume.
• The `Special` tab in the Store now allows browsing of all available Moods, Emojis, and unique Emotes.

Graphics and Performance

PC

• PC Shader Compilation Rework: The compulsory wait for shader compilation on first launch has been eliminated. Instead, essential global shaders will now preload in the background after installation or updates. (Note: Shader preload speed varies by GPU; entering a match before preloading is complete may cause performance issues like stuttering, network lag, rendering errors, or crashes.)
• The performance test tool now offers graphics settings optimization recommendations based on test results.
• In-game UI animation details will now automatically adjust according to effects detail settings, enhancing overall performance.

Maps and Modes

• Fixed several terrain issues that could cause characters to become stuck or clip into unintended areas.

Heroes

• Jump Height Fix: A minor bug where Emma Frost, Iron Fist, Phoenix, and Wolverine had slightly higher jump heights has been resolved, ensuring consistent jump mechanics for all heroes.
• Iron Fist`s Harmony Recovery: An issue where Lin Lie`s Harmony Recovery would sometimes conclude without its proper sound effect has been fixed.
• Venom & Spider-Man Web-Slinging: Both Venom and Spider-Man can now set distinct keybinds for simple and manual web-swinging, allowing players to choose their preferred style.
• Black Panther & Wolverine Audio Cues: Audio cues for enemy Black Panther and Wolverine have been enhanced, giving players a better chance to detect their stealthy approaches.

Console

• Fixed an issue where changing global keybinds could inadvertently affect some hero ability keys.