Overwatch is a shadow of what it used to be, and the hero shooter genre is in need of some new life. Many games have come and gone, like Battleborn and LawBreakers, while some like Valorant and Apex Legends still have their fans among gamers, streamers and eSports competitors. The recently announced Marvel Rivals looked like it could shake up the scene, with a massively popular IP attached and its own twist on the formula, but before even being given a release date its already lost a portion of its goodwill.

The game has had closed alpha testing since May 10, and people who've signed up to the playtest have been gradually given access codes to try it out. However, reports of streamers being told to sign a certain kind of NDA have been spreading across the internet, and this isn't your typical NDA. I had to sign an NDA, that is, a non-disclosure agreement, when I alpha tested Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. This meant I wasn't allowed under contract to talk about how shitty the game was, and and the full screen was plastered with watermarks of my gamertag so if I happened to leak any gameplay before the NDA ends, Warner Bros. would be on my ass faster than The Flash. That's your typical NDA when it comes to gaming.

But Marvel Rivals didn't quite have a non-disclosure agreement; it had a non-disparaging agreement within the contract that streamers had to sign before being given access codes. This meant that gamers couldn't talk negatively about the game, criticize it in any way or compare it to any other games.

Of course, fans weren't happy with being policed over what they could or couldn't say about the game, especially with free speech being such a hot topic these days. Developer & publisher NetEase issued an apology on Twitter, saying: 

"The Content Creator Program is a small-scale project that aims to aid in the production of incredible content by supporting Creators through giving them more resources. We actively encourage Creators to share their honest thoughts, suggestions, and criticisms as they play. All feedback, positive and negative, ultimately helps us craft the best experience for ourselves and the players.

We sincerely apologize for the confusion, suspicion, and frustration caused by these excessively restrictive terms and thank you for sharing with us. We cherish and appreciate every suggestion given by our players and always respect your feedback. We are currently working with Creators who have expressed these concerns and are revising the current version to be less restrictive and more Creator-friendly. Thank you for bearing with us while we make these adjustments."

It looks like they're on track to rectifying their mistake, but players likely won't forget this incident even after the game is fully released. What do you guys think? Will this affect Marvel Rivals in the long run? Sound off below!