Nintendo Oceanic: Marvel Rivals Introduces Costly Skin Customisation

Marvel Rivals has achieved what many competitors could only dream of—carving out a successful niche in the fiercely competitive online gaming landscape. While NetEase's hero shooter continues to generate impressive revenue, their latest customisation feature has our community raising eyebrows.

NetEase recently announced via X that players will soon be able to change character skin colours through "Customised Color Costumes" at a cost of 600 Unstable Molecules, which convert from Lattice at a 1:1 ratio. In practical terms, modifying a skin you've already purchased will set you back approximately $6.

The initial rollout is quite limited, with customisation options available for just four characters: Luna Snow, Psylocke, Magik, and Winter Soldier. Players won't have free reign over the colour palette either—you're restricted to pre-selected options provided by NetEase. The colour changes will apply to emotes, intro animations, and MVP sequences.

The Marvel Rivals community hasn't taken kindly to this development. With standard skins already priced between $15-$20, the additional charge for basic colour swaps has sparked considerable backlash. One particularly popular post on the Marvel Rivals subreddit called the feature "very misleading," noting: "It's 4 skin recolours. There's no way to 'customize'. You'd be forgiven for thinking you could change the colour of your skin to whatever you choose based on this bit of marketing." This sentiment has resonated widely, with the discussion thread attracting over 1,000 comments.

Despite the vocal disappointment, NetEase is likely to continue exploring additional revenue streams as long as player numbers remain stable. The burning question is: how many monetisation layers will the player base tolerate before deciding enough is enough?