Blade haunts the latest Marvel Rivals seasonal update

It's time to bare your fangs Marvel Rivals fans. Blade is coming, with the mid-season update arriving August 8th. The team at NetEase has prepped plenty of content to give you the lowdown on what's in store. Check it out below as you get those blood packs ready.

Guangzhou, China and Los Angeles, California, United States, July 30, 2025 – Today, Marvel Games and NetEase Games have unveiled full details for Season 3.5: The Abyss Awaken for Marvel Rivals, the award-winning and critically-acclaimed Super Hero Team-Based PVP Shooter that lets players assemble an ever-evolving all-star squad of Super Heroes and Super Villains battling with unique powers across a dynamic lineup of destructible maps from across the Marvel Multiverse. The game’s third season continuation is set to kick off August 8 and will introduce Blade as a playable hero along with a new map, Throne of Knull. Season 3.5 will also introduce new features, Team-Ups and a new game mode: Resource Rumble.

The full details and features for Season 3.5 in Marvel Rivals are below and in the latest episode of Dev Vision.

Season 3.0 further ignited the battle: the mighty Phoenix was ambushed, forcing most of the Phoenix Force to seek refuge within a cosmic egg, awaiting its fiery rebirth. But as heroes clashed, the Phoenix Egg cracked prematurely. The scattered Phoenix Force found new hosts among our heroes, yet it also awakened an ancient evil. Knull, the King in Black, has now risen to full power, wielding the All-Black once more, and his Queen in Black still spreads her wings. Amid this chaos, Blade, forever walking the razor's edge between two worlds, will be the first to light a fire upon the abyss, bringing fresh power to the fight.

Blade (Duelist) - In Season 3.5, the long-awaited Daywalker finally joins Marvel Rivals! Blade is a true Duelist; his unique bloodline gives him incredible strength, and his mastery of combat puts it to full use. He can pressure foes at mid-to-close range with his shotgun, and reduce their healing at just the right moment, then unleash his ravenous Ancestral Sword, awaken the Dhampir bloodline, and slice through every last enemy! And when the time is right, he will draw the legendary Sword of Dracula, dashing through foes and leaving a deadly trail in his wake. In that moment, Blade is the fiercest force on the battlefield. A true hero never looks back!

A new game mode, Resource Rumble, and its map, Throne of Knull, will arrive with the August 22 update. It will launch in Quick Match first to gather player feedback and fine-tune the experience, before rolling it out for Competitive play. Stay tuned for a gameplay deep dive soon!

Operation: Shield the Community

Great teamwork starts with great communication. To keep Marvel Rivals a positive experience for all, the team has been upgrading the in-game environment. As of July 24, in addition to player reports and manual review, all in-game voice chat will now be automatically screened by the system, with human review. This means we'll catch more toxic behavior, and players using inappropriate language will be penalized, making the game a better place for everyone.

With the Season 3.5 update, we're also adding a custom filter for text chat. If a message contains a muted word, it will be filtered out just for you. This feature will empower players to tailor their experience. We'll also regularly review popular muted words and consider adding them to the official list.

Competitive Quitting Penalties & Compensation

We know how frustrating it is when a teammate leaves a Competitive match. This creates an unfair situation where the team with fewer players has a much harder time winning, and if they stick it out until the end, they still face losing competitive points. To combat this, in Season 3.5, we're increasing penalties for players who quit: longer bans from Competitive play, and bigger point deductions. For the remaining players who stay, we'll now offer some point compensation at the end of the match. Plus, surrender votes will require just one less than the number of remaining teammates. If someone leaves due to unavoidable system issues, we'll review it and handle penalties fairly, and we're speeding up the appeals process for mistaken bans.

Ignite Mid-Season Finals

From August 6 -10, the Marvel Rivals Ignite Mid-Season Finals will be held in Guangzhou, China! Ten factions from around the world will compete for the championship. Stay tuned to our website and social media for more info.

Season 3.5 Updates and New Team-Ups

The Season 3.5 update brings a fresh round of changes to team-up abilities: We're removing Guardian Revival (Adam Warlock - Mantis/Star-Lord) and Atlas Bond (Iron Fist - Luna Snow) from play. Loki is leaving the Ragnarok Rebirth (Hela - Thor/Loki) team-up. Two brand new team-ups are being added: Duality Dance (Adam Warlock - Luna Snow) and Vibrant Vitality (Mantis - Groot/Loki). Also, some team-ups are welcoming new members: Iron Fist joins Chilling Assault (Luna Snow - Hawkeye), Star-Lord connects to the Rocket Network (Rocket Raccoon - Peni Parker), and Blade launches into Lunar Force (Cloak & Dagger - Moon Knight). 

In addition to the above, players can continue to get all the latest information from the Game Update featuring full Patch Notes and Hero Balance adjustments.

Stay tuned to GamingTrend for more Marvel Rivals news and info!