Marvel Rivals developer NetEase appears to have clamped down on the use of skin mods within the game in its latest update, effectively banning users from changing characters' skins with mods outright.
Per an IGN report, the latest season of the game has added a process called "asset hash checking" to Marvel Rivals, which is essentially a way for the game to check whether assets are legit or not.
Naturally, this means that any unauthorized user mods, such as the one that turns Iron Man into Dragon Ball's Vegeta or the one that gives Guardian of the Galaxy Mantis a decidedly goth bent, are no longer valid as far as Marvel Rivals is concerned.
As IGN points out, modding has always been against Marvel Rivals' terms of service, and NetEase itself has warned players against using mods to change their skins or do anything else unauthorized within the game.
In a statement to IGN, NetEase says it doesn't recommend modifying game files, because doing so "carries the risk of getting banned". It doesn't seem to provide any official confirmation that asset hash checking has been added.
It is, of course, entirely possible that enterprising modders (and is there any other kind?) will find a way around this latest setback. For the time being, however, you'll have to shelve your Marvel Rivals mods if you don't want to get banned.
If you're wondering exactly what Marvel Rivals is, it's a multiplayer hero shooter developed by Chinese studio NetEase and heavily inspired by the likes of Overwatch.
Revealed in March last year, the free-to-play game was released in December, going on to hit 10 million players within a 72-hour period. Of course, it's free-to-play, so many of those players may not be repeat customers, but it's still an impressive number.
You can check out Marvel Rivals right now on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. Want to know whether the game is for you or not? Check out our pre-release impressions right here.
