Marvel Rivals director explains why every game plays the same now

NetEase’s upcoming superhero hero shooter Marvel Rivals seems like an easy win after the colossal failure of contemporaries like Concord. In an interview with VideoGamer on the latest episode of the VideoGamer Podcast, game director Thaddeus Sasser agreed that the game should be an easy win, but only because of the hard work put in by the team.

Speaking to VideoGamer, Sasser said that the team has worked hard to not only retain players, but to make sure the barrier of entry is low enough that any gamer can jump right in. Alognside Marvel Rivals, Sasser explained that all major free-to-play games need to be similar enough to existing titles to grab newcomers, hence so many games feeling identical.

Marvel Rivals dev on increasable similar games

In the interview, Sasser explained that the control scheme for most modern multiplayer games is identical. While changes do occur from game-to-game, most major titles aim to keep buttons in similar enough places to competitors so casual players can easily jump between titles without being deterred.

Sasser revealed that, in the past, he moved from QWERTY keyboards to DVORAK which allowed for much faster typing. However, just like with modern control schemes, most people had already become accustomed to QWERTY, despite being designed to purposefully slow typists down.

“[DVORAK] did make it really fast, but the problem is that, to learn a whole new method of typing on a keyboard after 10, 20 years of using a current keyboard, forget it. The switching cost is too high… And I think the same is true for a lot of games. If you learn how to play a game really well on one kind of control device, you’re not really going to go seek out a new type of control devicem right?”

Sasser explained that the “switching cost” is why its so hard to get gamers to change from console to PC, or vice versa, as well as why so many games follow extremely similar control schemes.

“If you came out with a game, you’re like, ‘Hey, our movement keys are U,H,J,K’, people are like, ‘What? I’m not playing.’ The first thing they do is rebind the controls. So, there’s definitely a better fit to standardisation and reducing that workload for your user, your player to get into the game.”

Integral for free-to-play

For a free-to-play game, Sasser explained that it is “ever more important” to make sure players have a low barrier of entry, and a comfortable, familiar control scheme is integral to that. With no money spent, the familiar control scheme helps to cement a new player into the game.

“Oh boy, is it ever more important. And one of the reasons is not only is it more important to get them in, but it’s more important to keep them in because they have no sunk cost. They haven’t spent anything to get in there. So, if you make it super easy to get in, guess what? It’s super easy to get back out.”

Marvel Rivals is set to release on PC for free this December. A console port for the game is coming to Xbox and PlayStation in 2025. For more news on Marvel Rivals, check out Sasser’s comments on dataminers looking for leaks in the new game.