I played a lot of Marvel Rivals last night. It's one of the biggest games in the world right now, and like a fool I've decided to neglect its first season until there's only a few hours left before it's gone forever. After playing a few matches and getting through the last few pages of the battle pass, I felt satisfied and ready for the upcoming season. But then I realized that, to my dismay, there is no cross-progression in NetEase's hero shooter.
I've taken this feature for granted in recent years because the developers have done an incredible job of making it commonplace. Fortnite, Overwatch, Destiny, Call of Duty and tons of others allow me to create an account and transfer everything I do to whatever other platform I might end up playing on. Years of development and unique cosmetics are available on console, PC, and mobile with just a few clicks of buttons, so seeing a ubiquitous feature that one of the biggest live-action games of recent years doesn't have is just amazing.
Marvel Rivals is too good for progression to feel this limited
Once upon a time, cross-development seemed like an overly ambitious dream. I remember a time when I would do two individual playthroughs of Destiny on PS4 and Xbox One so I could play with a group of friends on both platforms, spending hours crafting two guardians because I had no other choice.
The same goes for Call of Duty if you were an idiot wanting to play on multiple devices. It was fresh and in some ways exciting to re-expose myself, but when online gaming became a bigger part of my life, it was just disappointing.
You had a different level, different unlocks, and a different take on every game you played. This was years before we started using terms like loot boxes and battle passes, before developers understood the ecosystems they were creating and the value their audiences were giving them. You only had a level and an infinite amount of experience points to earn.
I'm still a little ashamed of the level of excitement I felt when I found out that Blizzard was offering a way to combine all of my Overwatch accounts into one experience. Now I can show how much of a loser I am.
Cross progression should be the norm for today's live service games
I've spent hundreds on Overwatch and Fortnite, so I expect all of my financial investment and hard work to be reflected regardless of the platform I use to play. Most big games have come out on top, but that's not the case with Marvel Rivals. It currently doesn't offer the ability to link different platforms, and there's no account you can create to reflect everything you unlock in different seasons.
As someone who works at a desk on a relatively decent gaming PC, I'm not immune to a cheeky Overwatch lunchtime session to gain some experience or even level up a couple. And if I feel like playing more in the evening on my PS5 or Xbox Series X, I can log in safe in the knowledge that I'll be contributing to the same battle pass. The premium skins I choose to buy outside of seasonal events are also available everywhere I play, something I didn't buy in Marvel Rivals because I know they won't carry over at all.
Its first season is here, destined to bring a total of four new heroes and a battle pass packed with content, plus a premium shop that I know offers some killer costumes. But it's already proved a double-edged sword, as I have no desire to play on PC when I know I'm making most of my progress on PS5, so why waste time on other platforms? Considering crossplay is already there, it's surprising that progress hasn't followed in its footsteps. If we're lucky, it's only a matter of time before NetEase takes notice and gets on the case.
