Marvel Rivals is one of the best games to come out in 2024, though by no means is it perfect or problem-free. Now, players are noticing a new problem that’s becoming more prevalent in the game– Marvel Rivals bots seem to be assuming the identity of offline players, likely in an attempt for the game to fool actual online players.
The allegations came from a highly upvoted Reddit post in the Marvel Rivals subreddit. The post, authored by Reddit user Maleficent_Roll3450, has pointed out, with photo evidence, that he caught a bot with the same name as an offline player. Granted, it was a player vs AI match, but it’s still an odd case.
The Redditor and Marvel Rivals player actually kept trying to talk to whom he assumed was his friend in-game, only to find out after the match that said friend hadn’t been online for months. To make matters worse, the AI was on his team instead of the AI team, making it even weirder for the player vs AI match.
Consequently, the post has drawn the attention of many other Marvel Rivals players who kept suspecting their human-named teammates to be bots. Some of the most telltale signs were the names, of course, which are too culturally relevant for any bot or AI to come up with.
Some players have sworn that they started seeing this trend for Marvel Rivals as early as the end of Season 0 or early this year. It’s just that some of the names that the bots have chosen were not exactly curated, making them distracting, though it does put up a good appearance, which other players can pass off as human.
“Bots have been taking real user names since I started playing towards the end of season 0. We faced a bot named ‘OiledUpDiddy’ and that’s how we found out,” swears Redditor Grobyc
“What the hell, that’s really weird. Always wondered if the names in bot matches actually existed or not. Guess I have my answer. Just leaves me hoping no one was hating on a bot with my name lol,” wonders Redditor NuxyrWasTaken
“I’ve seen bots with some insanely inappropriate names so I kinda assumed they used real player names. Thanks for posting proof though,” says Redditor donkey100100
Trust Issues with Marvel Rivals
Hence, the Marvel Rivals community now has discovered its newfound trust issue with the game. Previously, there were suspicions that if you play badly enough, the game will match you with bots to boost your self-esteem, and this turned out to be true.
Now, some players are further confounded since it will be harder to discern between human players and bots– even for player names with crass or inappropriate names. It’s understandable how actual human players would be annoyed at how Marvel Rivals uses bots or AI, especially when they don’t mention it and try to pass it off as real players. Victories can sometimes feel hollow, as bots tend to play worse.
Regardless of how players feel about that, it might be for the best. Constant losing streaks are not fun, after all. Currently, Marvel Rivals is still among the most consistently played games on Steam, and there’s no doubt that many players find it fun. Bots might’ve contributed to the game’s success in retaining its players.
