Marvel Rivals Season 1 is terrible news for modders

While Marvel Rivals Season 1 delivered a roster of new heroes, exclusive skins, and exciting gameplay updates, the patch also introduced sweeping technical changes that have effectively silenced the once-thriving modding scene.

Marvel Rivals’ modders had their moment and it was glorious chaos. Vegeta as Iron Man, the Winter Soldier morphing into CJ from GTA: San Andreas, and even Jeff The Landshark becoming Pochita from Chainsaw Man.

Even vehicles got the treatment, with TikToks showing robo-spiders becoming Thomas the Tank Engine. The crown jewel has to be turning Luna Snow’s ultimate into Skibidi Toilet. Marvel Rivals modders didn’t just have fun; they had the audacity.

NetEase decided to put an end to Marvel Rivals mods with the Season 1 patch by adding asset hash checks.

So long, Goth Mommy Mantis and Psylocke

The news was shared by popular dataminer XOXLeak: “The latest Marvel Rivals update has introduced Asset hash checking. Due to this, Mods do NOT work anymore until a workaround is found.”

Essentially, the game now scans its files to ensure every single asset matches an official, pre-approved “hash” or digital fingerprint.

If a mod changes one pixel or sound effect, a hash mismatch occurs and the mod gets blocked. It’s a simple, brutal solution. NetEase made modding practically impossible without risking game crashes – or, potentially, bans.

Mods were never going to fly in Marvel Rivals. The game relies on selling cosmetic skins to keep the lights on. Why let players mod in a slick Captain America suit from Avengers: Infinity War for free when they’d otherwise fork over $20 for the official version?

For NetEase, it’s a savvy move. Without mods, players who want Venom Spidey or a gothic Moon Knight have no choice but to buy them.

Conveniently, Season 1 launched alongside Mr. Fantastic and Sue Storm, both packing exclusive skins. Malice, Sue’s dark alt, is already trending. Season 1 isn’t just about new content. It’s NetEase tightening its grip, one asset hash at a time.