Former Blizzard President Deletes Post Calling 'Marvel Rivals' An 'Overwatch' Clone That Stole Black Widow From Widowmaker
Former Blizzard President Mike Ybarra deleted a post where he claimed that developer NetEase cloned Overwatch and stole the character of Widowmaker to create Black Widow.
In a now-deleted post to X, Ybarra wrote, “Looks like Overwatch Marvel Rivals ships tomorrow. Much like Light of Motiram (a clear copy of HZD) out of China.”
He added, “I mean even the character name - Widowmaker in OW vs. Black Widow in Marvel Rivals lol. NetEase/TenCent - all the same.”
The post was quickly community noted. It read, “Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow is a popular Marvel hero who made her comic debut in 1964, more than 50 years before Overwatch and Widowmaker were created. The poster is spreading misinformation.”
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While he deleted the original post, he did reiterate his belief that it’s seemingly an Overwatch clone. When asked what he thought about Marvel Rivals, he responded, “If you like Overwatch, you might like it.”
He also backpedaled, claiming he worded his original post wrong. He wrote, “Worded poorly, had to delete massive DMs of ‘Blizzard sucks’ which should be expected I guess.”
“It's clear what they are doing,” he added. “It's not the first time. Once the NetEase deal went south, everything was a free for all and it all went into hyper drive.”
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Even more humiliating for Ybarra is that Marvel Rivals demolished the peak player counts for Overwatch 2 on Steam.
The game hit an all-time peak of 444,286 on its release day and currently has 300,821 concurrent players in-game as of writing.
For comparison, Overwatch 2 hit an all-time peak concurrent of just 75,608 when it released back in August 2023.
As of writing just 34,015 people are in game and it had a 24-hour peak of 37,133.
Marvel Rivals’ all-time peak is already 487.6% more than Overwatch 2. And it’s quite possible that all-time peak could increase as the game heads into its first weekend.
And while NetEase was clearly inspired by Overwatch for Marvel Rivals, the game is clearly different. It would be like claiming that World of Warcraft was a copy of Everquest. Clearly, World of Warcraft was inspired by Everquest, but was not a direct copy.
Nevertheless, that does not also negate actions NetEase took in the past where they clearly did just steal and copy from World of Warcraft.
As an example, one reviewer for Marvel Rivals makes the distinction between the two games clear, “Finallyyyyyy, a game that's actually fun! I can finally stop feeling depressed by playing Overwatch. First off, the team is amazing, and the gameplay is fantastic—I just love it. Don’t even get me started on the characters; they’re incredible and 10 times better than anything I’ve seen, and the designs are especially top-notch. The launch was a very solid start with stunning visuals. The skins and battle pass are totally worth it. Plus, it's great to see a team that genuinely listens to the community, and thank God for that! Compared to other PvP shooters, Marvel Rivals stands out with its unique hero abilities and balanced gameplay. So, do I recommend this game? Just go for it. I bet you'll love it and keep playing it. I hope it just keeps getting better and better. Also, with new characters on the way, I can’t wait! Great job, NetEase Games! This game is so good, I clear my day for it.”
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To be fair Marvel's Rivals is 100% an Overwatch Clone just like Paladins is. Also I don't see Rivals ever becoming as popular as Overwatch 1 in its first few years. Overwatch 2 is Woke Trash, so it's not hard to beat those numbers.
Plus it's clear Marvel Rivals will go Woke as some point due to Disney being part if it........