Marvel Rivals Season 5 Patch Notes: The Biggest Changes of the Season

Season 5 of Marvel Rivals has officially launched, marking one of the most substantial updates in the game’s history. The new season began on November 14, 2025, at 09:00 (UTC), delivering a new hero, major content additions, a rebuilt ranked system, and a wide range of technical upgrades.

🆕 New Hero & Content Updates

Season 5 welcomes the iconic Gambit, who now stands at the center of a brand-new narrative arc and receives a full lineup of themed cosmetics. In addition, fresh store bundles—including the Thieves Guildmaster Bundle—arrive alongside new emotes and character outfits.

A new social map, Times Square, has also been introduced. This non-combat zone allows players to relax, socialize, complete activities, and interact with each other in a more casual environment.

The game’s story expands with:

• Love is a Battlefield, a new series
• Deal of a Lifetime, Gambit’s dedicated lore chapter

✨ New Systems & Feature Enhancements

Season 5 delivers several high-impact improvements across the game experience:

• Dynamic home-menu backgrounds
• Interactive emotes enabling shared hero animations
• Full rollout of the cross-progression system
• Enhanced chat and Discord integration for Xbox
• Option to hide Discord friends who haven’t synced their accounts

🎫 Battle Pass & Seasonal Event

The Season 5 Battle Pass transports players into the Grand Garden Adventure, featuring 10 new full costume sets.

The seasonal event, Elders’ Chessboard, allows players to unlock Spider-Man – Iron Spider entirely for free by completing event missions.

🏆 Ranked System — The Season’s Largest Overhaul

Season 5 introduces the most extensive rework to ranked play to date.

Key Structural Changes

• The ranked journey begins with 10 placement matches, which determine your initial rank.
• During placements, a predicted rank system is active—impacting matchmaking only.
• Rewards are now issued per season half, with new rules:To claim Gold-tier rewards, you must play 10 matches in that half and finish it at Gold or higher.
• Season rewards unlock only once all placement matches are completed.

To reduce pressure, cosmetic rewards such as Crests of Honor and rank frames are now distributed once per full season, not twice.

Party Restrictions

To ensure competitive integrity:

• Bronze → Grandmaster: all party sizes allowed except full five-stacks.
• Celestial & above: solo or duo queue only.

⚙️ Matchmaking & Penalty System Improvements

Placement-phase team formation has been adjusted for better balance. The penalty system for leaving or inactivity is now more detailed and situation-specific.

In certain cases—such as a random teammate disconnecting early—a match may be fully invalidated.

New Accessories & Twitch Drops

Season 5 adds new accessories for:

Gambit, Human Torch, Magik, Mantis, Wolverine, Phoenix, Thor, Loki, Moon Knight, and Star-Lord.

Twitch Drops also return, offering players the Phoenix – Will of Galacta costume.The campaign runs from November 14 to December 12, 2025.

🎓 College Perks Expansion

The College Perks program continues to grow, now featuring additional outfits including:

• Invisible Woman – The Life Fantastic
• Iron Man – Avengers: Endgame
• Ultron – X-Tron
• Moon Knight – Fist of Vengeance
• …and more.

🛠️ Fixes & Performance Optimizations

Season 5 delivers broad technical upgrades, including:

• Lower CPU load
• Improved rendering efficiency
• Updated performance-testing tool
• Enhanced CPU thread visibility
• Significantly reduced client size on consoles

Major hero-related issues have also been resolved, including:

• Venom Vision not triggering correctly on Peni Parker
• Shield bugs affecting Queen of the Dead
• Missing drone effects on Ultron