NetEase’s game received one of its first championships over the weekend, and streamers gave it an almost one-sided critique.

One of them was YouTuber Rachel Hofstetter (Valkyrae), and she asked to speak to a Twitch crew member because she didn’t understand what was going on. She waited five years to get into a Twitch Rival, which is unbelievable, and then she asked who designed this crap. The problem is that the balance of the teams seems to have been overlooked by the organizers.

Twitch essentially changed the rules of the tournament at the last minute. Teams with multiple GM+ ranks were allowed: four players could now be on a team instead of two, allowing players who had spent over 3,000 hours on Marvel Rivals to join and crush streamers. It became more of a professional league, with the high ranked players playing and everyone else staying away (AFK). So Valkyrae says it was like a coughing baby fighting a hydrogen bomb.

The total prize money was $200K. The first place winner took home $21,000, second $18,000, and third $12,000, so it’s no wonder the teams were filled with such hardcore players. Teams were paid $750 per win and $450 per loss. The winning team was Hogzmr, and the victory was dedicated to their former captain, Dokibird, who had to withdraw from the tournament 24 hours before the start due to another rule change. Twitch then said that only two less GM+ players would be allowed on the team, and he volunteered to leave the team because he felt his teammates deserved the money and attention more.

The players who had to leave were compensated, but it was still a disappointment. Dokibird says he is not a professional, and there are few opportunities for content creators who are not as good players as professionals. Still, the situation was more than lousy!

Source: PCGamer

for context the upcoming twitch rivals had a 2 player limit for gm+ players but they changed jt to 4 players just a week before the tournament

now its just a bunch of eternity sweats (like us) with over 300 hours stomping on streamers who are just there for fun https://t.co/Db1fZYwbQl

— bogur (@b0gur) January 17, 2025

Shroud finds the BEST BLACK PANTHER Player in Marvel Rivalspic.twitter.com/jOdi7xLJRV

— Marvel Rivals Intel (@RivalsAssembled) January 18, 2025