Marvel Rivals still can't escape the Overwatch comparisons as it introduces a very familiar limited-time mode for its Spring Festival event: "Can't believe we're getting Lúcioball again"

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Marvel Rivals' Spring Festival kicks off later this week

Marvel Rivals The Spring Festival trailer screenshot showing Star-Lord with a ball.
(Image credit: NetEase Games / Marvel Games)

Marvel Rivals has announced a new limited-time game mode to accompany its upcoming Spring Festival event, and it looks, uh, a tad familiar. 

Announced today, Marvel Rivals developer NetEase games has unveiled Clash of the Dancing Lions – a soccer-like mode that'll be available to play from this Thursday, January 23. Ever since Marvel Rivals was first shown off, it's been unable to avoid comparisons to fellow hero shooter Overwatch, and it's not escaped that fate here either, because, yeah, it's hard not to think of Blizzard's own Lúcioball when you look at this. 

Lúcioball is the star of Overwatch's annual Summer Games event – a Rocket League-style 3v3 mode that has players tear around a soccer field, blasting an enormous ball around with Lúcio's abilities to score goals. It's fantastic fun, and a nice change of pace from the regular modes, but needless to say, seeing another hero shooter put a soccer mode in as a limited-time seasonal event is giving players déjà vu.

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"We got Lúcioball in [Marvel Rivals] before GTA 6," one fan responds to the trailer on Twitter. "Can't believe we're getting Lúcioball again," writes another. 

To be fair, other than the fact that it's another seasonal soccer mode, Clash of the Dancing Lions does look pretty different to Lúcioball in terms of how it plays. For a start, the ball itself isn't comically large, and it generally looks like it'll control in a more precise way than its slightly chaotic Overwatch counterpart. Soccer is soccer, of course – the very literal goal appears to be the same, but it does appear that there'll be different strategies to implement here. 

Beyond the mode itself, there are also some neat seasonal skins to grab, if they take your fancy. The Star-Lord one is actually set to be a free reward according to the trailer, which is particularly brilliant for anyone who mains the Duelist – don't miss out when the event starts later this week. 

While you're here, be sure to check out our tier list of the best Marvel Rivals characters.

Catherine Lewis
Catherine Lewis
Deputy News Editor

I'm GamesRadar+'s Deputy News Editor, working alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.