Updated 6 p.m: NetEase has apologized for “inappropriate and misleading terms” in the content creator contract.
In a statement in Discord shortly after the contract began making headlines, the Marvel Rivals Content Creator Team said it “sincerely apologizes” for the “miscommunication and your unpleasant experiences.”
“We are aware that there are inappropriate and misleading terms in the commitment regarding sharing non-disparaging content,” the full statement said. “We sincerely apologize [sic] for the miscommunication and your unpleasant experiences!
“Our booth is absolutely open to both suggestions and criticism to improve our game. And we [sic] our mission is to better satisfy Marvel Rivals players with these constructive suggestions.
“We are now in the process of reviewing the miscommunication terms in our commitment,” it continues. “Progress will be shared with each creator in a timely manner. Marvel Rivals always welcomes creators to join our community and create great content with us. Content creators are not only respected as players but are also part of the community here. , a suggestion form for the Content Creator program is about to appear in the [Discord] who is open to all opinions. I look forward to hearing your thoughts!”
At the time of writing, it is not clear whether previously signed contracts are now void, but NetEase says that “all terms will not go live until both parties have discussed and agreed to the terms.”
In a statement to the press, NetEase said: “The contract is a draft version aimed at long-term cooperation with the creators interested in Marvel Rivals. The development team hopes for more meaningful and consistent feedback, suggestions and criticism. through deeper collaboration.”
Original story follows.
Original story, 1.50pm BST: Players and content creators have approached Marvel Rivals for a Playtest terms of service contract that prohibits players from “making statements that are detrimental to the reputation of the game.”
As shared by former professional eSports player and Twitch streamer Brandon “A_Seagull” Larned, the contract “signs away your right to negatively review the game.”
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Section 2.1 of the agreement – subtitled ‘Non-Disparagement’ – requires content creators to ‘agree not to make public statements or participate in discussions that are detrimental to the reputation of the game’.
This “includes, but is not limited to,” “making disparaging or satirical comments about game-related material, such as game features, characters, or music,” and “making malicious comparisons to competitors or disparaging the gameplay or differences between Marvel Rivals or giving of subjective negative reviews of the game”.
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As Larned noted, “a lot of streamers have signed [the contract] without reading, just to play”.
Interestingly, the FAQ posted in the game’s Discord community says that there is “no NDA for our closed alpha test” and that players are “encouraged to share their experiences and all types of content across all platforms.”
A number of players have also raised concerns about the terms of service on the official Discord server, but so far there has been no response to their questions.
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Others on Twitter/X claim that the developers agreed to “review” the contract, but apparently haven’t done so yet.
At the time of writing, the hero team-based PvP shooter – which is published by NetEase Games – has yet to publicly comment on the matter. We’ve reached out to NetEase and will update if and when we hear more.
Marvel Rivals is a free-to-play, team-based PVP shooter for PC with the backing of Chinese publisher NetEase.
Described as a “thrilling, fast-paced, cooperative gameplay experience,” Marvel Rivals will pit teams of six against each other as they battle it out in a variety of destructible environments featuring characters from across the Marvel Universe. This includes Iron Man, Groot, Scarlet Witch and more.