Here’s why your Marvel Rivals queue times are longer

Since its debut in December 2024, Marvel Rivals has enthralled millions with its rich Marvel Universe roster and dynamic 6v6 fights. The game quickly established itself as a standout in the crowded hero-shooter genre, and Season 2, which premiered on April 11, 2025, brought new heroes such as Emma Frost and promised new content, but the hype period is ending.

Players are becoming increasingly annoyed with longer queue times, which have hampered the fast-paced experience they once enjoyed. Subreddits and social media are flooded with complaints, with some reporting wait times that exceed permissible limits, particularly in Quick Play and Competitive modes.

This has raised questions about the game’s matchmaking system and capacity to maintain its large player population. Despite NetEase’s efforts to optimize servers and offer updates, such as the latest update that addresses hero issues, the problem remains, lowering player interest. Here’s why you’re getting longer queue times in Rivals and how to fix it.

Marvel Rivals long queue times: reasons explained

Extended queue times in Marvel Rivals, which became especially visible with the Season 1 update in January 2025, result from a mix of server and gameplay concerns. High player demand at peak hours or after significant updates frequently exceeds server capacity, resulting in congestion and lengthy wait times.

South American servers, such as São Paulo, have reported queue times of 6-8 minutes, while North American servers typically offer near-instant matches, indicating regional differences in player population or server performance. Furthermore, the game’s ranked mode uses complex matchmaking algorithms to balance skill levels, which can cause considerable delays in queue times, particularly in higher rankings such as Diamond, where wait times might surpass 15 minutes or be displayed as “unknown” due to probable glitches or limited player pools.

Furthermore, post-update fixes have brought technical difficulties, with several players noticing that canceling and re-queuing frequently avoids delays, implying underlying matchmaking or server configuration issues.

How to fix longer queue times in Rivals

Here are some methods using which you can get faster queue times and avoid longer queues:

• Play during off-peak hours: Log in early in the morning or late at night, when there are fewer players online, which reduces server congestion and generally results in shorter or no queue times.
• Switch Servers: If regional servers in South America have long waits, try connecting to high-population servers in North America for faster matchmaking, but be aware that latency may rise.
• Queue as a group: Playing with friends enables coordinated role selection, correcting role imbalances, and accelerating team building during matchmaking.
• Cancel and Re-Queue: If the queue is more than a few minutes long or shows a “unknown” wait time, cancel and resume it; players frequently report near-instant matches after doing this.
• Check the server status and updates: Before queuing, check the Marvel Rivals official website or social media for server status updates to avoid joining during maintenance or outages, and make sure your gaming client is up to current to avoid connection troubles.

While you’re fixing your longer queue times in Marvel Rivals, check out all the error codes you may have been facing right here and how to fix them.