Marvel Rivals dev knows players are getting paid to "deliberately sabotage matches" in a "disturbing trend," threatens permanent bans for people "maliciously idling"

NetEase is aware that some Marvel Rivals players are getting paid to deliberately throw matches, and it's threatening to dish out permanent bans to anyone caught taking on these bounties.

A website called Intlist recently caused waves for allowing players to post bounties across a number of online games, including Counter-Strike 2, Valorant, Overwatch, and Marvel Rivals. People could essentially put a cash bounty on any player for any reason, and the system then rewards the person who throws a match against the target.

The website became so prolific that the official Marvel Rivals Twitter account had to step in and give the community a stern warning.

"We have recently identified a disturbing trend within our community: 'incentivized throwing,' where players are enticed by third-party bounties to deliberately sabotage matches," the developer tweets. "This behavior not only undermines the integrity of our game but also tarnishes the experience for honest players who are committed to fair competition."

"We maintain a strict zero-tolerance policy against any form of malicious disruption," it continues. "To combat this issue, we are implementing a specialized investigation protocol focused on identifying and addressing negative gameplay linked to these external bounties. Accounts found to be violating our policies will face serious repercussions, including, but not limited to, permanent bans."

NetEase also promises it has "enhanced our regulations" to spot and punish disruptive behavior, as well as follow up on reports.

"If you encounter players who are maliciously idling or intentionally throwing games, we encourage you to utilize the reporting feature immediately. Your reports are crucial and will be thoroughly investigated by our dedicated team," the studio adds. "Maintaining a positive gaming environment is a collective responsibility."

Intlist has since announced that it's transitioning into a free platform for people to report griefers and throwers, rather than punishing them by griefing and throwing.

"We're happy to see game developers taking a stronger stance on a problem the community has cared deeply about," the website now reads.

While Intlist marketed itself as a platform to punish bad apples, something tells me that it would've just made the situation worse. Surely if you're throwing a game to get back at a thrower, then you're more likely to have a bounty put on your head for throwing, leading to more games being intentionally thrown? Right?

In the meantime, check out all upcoming Marvel Rivals characters and our Marvel Rivals hero tier list.