The Marvel Rivals Skin Problem
Video Overview & Insights
Is there a deeper problem with marvel rivals skins and the way NetEase picks heroes for new drops?
P.S. When I said Psylocke had no ties to Egypt, I meant this specific version of her, since she's a different character from the original Psylocke. But yeah, she was a Horseman, so you can definitely make that case. The thing is, Storm was also a Horseman three different times, so we're pretty much right back where we started. Make it make sense. 😭
Look, it’s getting hard to ignore. Characters like Storm, Black Panther, Blade, and Moon Knight perfectly fit the vibe of major events like the Egyptian season or the Disco update, yet they keep getting left on the sidelines. In this video, we're breaking down the data, busting the myth that it's just about character popularity, and looking at why the "technical limitations" excuse doesn't hold up, especially when complex dual-model heroes like Cloak and Dagger are getting premium skins. Plus, we'll look at NetEase's history with games like Identity V and Onmyoji Arena to see if this is just a one-off or a bigger pattern we need to talk about.
0:00 – 0:30 The Hood Controversy
I’m shocked how little people are aware of how much of East Asian culture is shaped around racism, be it blatant or concealed. There’s a reason mangaka give black characters big lips to this day. China & Korea are no different.
0:30 – 1:41 The Egypt Skin Debate
1:41 – 2:01 Pattern or Coincidence?
The Hood being Latino in the game is because they wanted to match the portrayal in the MCU. Parker Robbins is a villain. Namor is Latino in the game! He's played by a Latino actor in the game! The Hood isn't the first Latino character in the game!
2:01 – 3:14 The Hood's Introduction
3:14 – 4:25 Blade's Release
I don't really think any of this was supposed to be racist the hood being in prison is because he committed crimes not just because of his ethnicity. You said Draycula you mean Dracula 🧛🏿♂️. Psylocke has an Egyptian skin because she has been a horseman before just like Wolverine and Deadpool but nobody really talks about that I understand Storm not getting an Egyptian is weird but like Black panther and Moon Knight basically already have their Egyptian skins which is kind of their base designs what do you want netease to do
4:25 – 5:19 Moon Girl's Story
5:19 – 6:07 Cyclops' Role
6:07 – 6:38 Captain America Breaks Out
6:38 – 8:42 Do Pick Rates Explain It?
I notice how not this video or any comments even touch that it could be sales numbers. It just race it has to be. If we woke up Tomorrow and black characters had more skins than everyone else, cloak was made his own character, and they made most of the roster black characters people will still fight tooth and nail to find something to call racist.
8:42 – 9:20 Storm's Summer Skin
9:20 – 10:47 Are Some Skins Harder to Make?
Their culture doesn't respect yours, so out of respect to both, I do not care.
10:47 – 11:10 The Identity V Controversy
11:10 – 11:39 Onmyoji's Kotodama Controversy
Okay, NetEase, I get it 😢 Were Not liked nor welcomed 😒
11:39 – 12:21 A Pattern of Whitewashing?
12:21 – 13:29 Final Thoughts & Conclusion
Netease also has a habit of making all the asian characters like their OC broken, but always try to make the Black characters weak, boring or unplayable so they can justify not giving them skins after no one plays them. This trend has existed in many of their mobile games until recently.
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Torch: I HAVE NOTINGGGG
More User Perspectives
The Devs are hypocrites because they din't give black characters new skins, yet they gave Cloak a new skin
@YoruHoshiTaiyo4:15 Oh that's bull. It's just a cool looking emote for Strange. I'm pretty sure there's nothing more to it than that.
@BradLad56Black guy who mains blade here! Loved the Juneteenth spray tbh ! Idc what they release at this point i just want more skins for the black characters. They can hire a black designer specifically for black characters 🤷🏾♂️
@mrcoolguy155I hope they either race swap all the black characters in the game to white or only give em skins whenever its a "non black theme" , yall complaining clowns are the reason why words like racism have zero power or value in todays world
@oven723Hulk is black
@SuicidalThotzzI honestly love when video games add characters with different backgrounds in. I would also love to play BP and storm but I'm shit with flying characters and I prefer characters with projectile weapons.
@Hoardzy91Regarding Moon Girl being smarter than Richards, smart characters don't have to say they are smart to be smart, so yeah, her constantly reminding her about it would piss people off and look forceful.
@SpearSilver"why introduce devil dinosaur" maybe because he's a huge fucking dinosaur and would be fun to play as??
@SpearSilverHave you seen how black people are portrayed in Asian commercials? I wouldn't say they are being racist...are they bigots, yes are they prejudice, definitely.
@MrSpokenthoughtzsorry but its obvious that they didnt properly buff storm blade and blackpanther for OVER A YEAR all 3 have been rather weak black panther even hella weak, lunella could EASILLY been playable with devil, penny is 16 in most of her stories too, the alreay is an older lunella in the comics and even if she also could have just been a hologram, or teleport in for the shield or gave her an interface thing
and no technicallity is NOT a hindrence look at all the skins we non stop get, ironman has 3 different forms, normal enhanced and ult, and how dafuq can they have sale number to judge those 3 on if they NEVER GET skins to build numbers on???????
netase and marvel/disney have WAY too much money to not do whatever they wanna do its no lack of recources, nor time, nor marketing, nor popuilarity (storm is one of the most well known super heroes to ever exist)
look at cloak, he barely has half a model
netease is well known for racism and disrespect to artists (look at their ai use)
Ps. Jumping to callin lunella an industry plant is racist in itself, same shit miles, kamala, ironheart and plenty of 2010´s characters got called even to this day cause they aint cis het white characters, devil and lunella have been very popular for so many years, their animated show havin been a massive hit too
pps. the hood story is the most stereotipical latino boy gone to a life of crime story ever hahaha
Most of your arguments fall apart when you take into account what they have planned for the rest of the season :T
@milkyybearBoy oh boy, I can't wait until they do an Africa folktale battle pass, and give epic skins to the whitest fucking characters in Marvel.
@pudgeydoodles631413:22 yea lets give the japanese character an Egypt themed skin when she already got her kimono outfit.
@Jaewym12:15 i wish had enemies like this. Just watch me fly and dont shot at me😅
@Jaewym9:26 a billionaire company with a whole team that are specific for skins? Problems with making skins?! Dont bs me bruh
@JaewymLook I'm not gonna sugarcoat it for you, YES! NETEASE IS RASIST, they've always been and they've never tried to hide it, check ANY of their other games and the same issue persists there, look I'm a mobile player I've been forced to deal with netease's bullshit all my life and I'm glad they're now more mainstream so more people see their issues.
@67420yurithe Psylocke skin actually makes sense in rivals lore and X-men lore. BUT HELA nah that is some bs. she got a legendary in the season 7 battle pass with colour swaps. Then she got a savage land skin in the mini battle pass. She is also a NORSE GOD why the hell is she an Egyptian god. Don't get me wrong. The point of skins and skin themes is to reimage characters in different scenarios and how they would dress. But its the fact that it legit just took priority OVER the actual lore related characters who are tied to Egypt. My last two cents is that the summer storm skin was shoe horned in, but I am glad that they are very fast to include one. (Doesn't mean it isn't some bullshit). Finally the lore of this season's new map has a Muriel where it has the classic x-men in their OG suits facing apolocplyse. But for some reason they self inserted MAGIK into storm's place on it, AND THE WORST PART ABOUT IT is that Magik isn't even in a classic x-men suit its legit just base rivals Magik. So it doesn't even make sense.
@dougman72You forgot to mention Blade’s feet, netease artists don’t know what a black person even looks like
@t3hsolo4:56 industry plant IS PUSHING IT
@Remmy2xx3:57 this was crazy
@Remmy2xxApocalypse horseman I can let slide but everyone else MAN FK NO
@Remmy2xx0:46 Psylocke is a horseman of apocalypse — in this scenario, she’s the ONLY one that makes sense here 😂😂
@vikvickersI think they just struggle with making good products for black people. Not intentionally, they just aren't that good at it, and they won't push for the attempt
@MrProdigy810Digging a hole.
Yo I'm a professional comic artist, my boss/mentor drew for Marvel and helped popularize Moon Girl, R.A. Height. I wouldn't call her an industry plant, there's a lot of care and work that goes into these characters. However, communication from publisher to reader can be poor the bigger the publisher you're dealing with, so it leaves a ton of room for missed meaning and mixed messaging. I'm game to talk about comics with peeps if you'd like down here. Just please keep it respectful. I've done big pub work myself, all for DC though, working on the Marvel gig, lol.
Honestly I don’t think they’re being rascist. Storm, Bp and blade are very niche characters, and not that many people play them so they won’t sell as well. Also Bp is super fast moving so you wouldn’t get to enjoy his skins much anyway. And I get what you said about Hela and psy having lower pick rates to but let’s be honest: Hela doesn’t get THAT many skins, she honestly gets a pretty average amount. And as for psylocke, her community literally buys every damn skin they release for her. It’s the same with iron man (as an iron man main myself), we literally insta buy every new skin, so of course they’ll give these characters skins more often. It also explains why the main supports like Jeff, invis, Luna, and CnD get so many legendaries, they are played every damn game, and their community buys all the skins. And it’s not like storm, bp and blade never get skins, they do just less than the more profitable characters. The literal only weird thing about it is them not getting Egyptian skins, but then again season 9.5 hasn’t even come out yet so it’s too soon to tell.
But yeah all in all they’re just less popular characters than the rest of the cast.
Respect for addressing this issue. Netease definitely has some glaring issues when it comes to certain groups
@itsoweezee868Storm and Mk definitely should have had something, but I guess rocket and mantis are Egyptian now. Hela and psylocke make sense because of the lore
@JoJo-bq1klPeople are a bit naive in relation to the understanding of who manages the IP. I 100% guarantee you Marvel will have final say on things like the characters in the game, the skins, how they play, VA, voice lines, story etc. Marvel will get to review all of this content every step of the way. If they don’t like something they will get Netease to pivot.
To add there are hundreds of people involved in these choices. It is a BUSINESS. They aren’t just pushing you a skin in this game. They are managing their IP across the board. Noice how we have Spiderman skins released just in time for the movie? Or we now have this build up of Avengers events towards Doomsday. It’s all calculated by Marvel. Netease obviously make the game come up with stuff, create it and make their own proposals but Marvel has constant input.
I know this from 15 years in the games industry working on major IP like Marvel etc.
This is what happens mfers just don’t enjoy the damn game why we bitches about characters not getting skins if they don’t want to then they just don’t want to and be more concerned with game balance don’t nobody who play this game serious or for fun whining about representation
@Bobby_Sauce.Ridiculous - there are WHITE characters treated the same, as others have mentioned. I.E Torch and Hulk. The skins that sell the most are mostly because more males buy female skins. People tend to not play flyers, which is why Torch & Storm have had such low pick rates since day 1. This is also the reasoning why they get less skins. Less players = less money for skins. Torch still has no legendary and he's been in since s2.
@pancakepop680If cloak wasn’t paired with dagger he’d also wouldn’t be receiving as many skins
@DaffyTaffy93Psylocke was given an Egyptian skin cause she is one of Apocalypse's horsemen. But Storm not getting one AND being an Apocalypse horsemen, it's outright bs
@redeyesbananaGet over yourselves
@henriquekeldinThe answer is simple they make skins who they wanna make skins for plain and simple easy y'all taking about racist devs but yet y'all continue to play the racist devs games this skins discorse is dumb
@kushgod3069Calling Moon Girl an industry plant when she's a BLACK YOUNG GIRL because she's smarter than a white man has to be the dumbest argument of all time ESPECIALLY in the context of this video.
C'mon dude it's not "forcing" it to introduce someone better than the best. It would be more forced if the character is NEVER ever challenged and is just destined to be the smartest just because legacy. Let someone else have the spotlight without shitting on it with "industry plant"
Something is definitely off with the skins. Been saying this to myself for a while
@khi_has_spokenI'm going to add my share:
.- On the comic Superior Iron Man, Tony Stank (🤭) is almost all the story whit the face plate and top helmet open, the SKIN on MR's HAVE the face done under the helmet, so, WHY Netease don't put the option to remove it?
.- Ultron recolor, all lights are green/yellow, then, WHY not change his attacks are not green/yellow to?
.- Dr. Strange Phantom Sorcerer skin, emote of whiping with a match to his skin dark blue/purple whip... Then, WHY his melee is not whit the dark blue/purple whip?, OR, WHY not made his shield dark blue/purple to?
Because nobody gives a shit about lowplayer count characters, netease will pump skins for the popular ones lol money talks
@zackm9729The US despises us
CHINA :