Random: New Marvel Rivals Game Mode Bears A Striking Resemblance To Splatoon

The free-to-play hero shooter Marvel Rivals has made quite a splash since it landed on PS5, Xbox Series and PC earlier this month — like, a 10 million players in its first three days-sized splash — and now, as the live-service title gears up for its first festive period, an upcoming new game mode has our Nintendo radars a-beeping.

You see, as noted by our friends over at Push Square, the soon-to-be-added 'Jeff's Winter Splash Festival' (arriving on 20th December) bears a striking resemblance to Nintendo's squid-based shooter, Splatoon. This game mode swaps out the usual PvP shooting and healing for a Turf War colour-spreading objective, where opposing teams will use the adorable Strategist's spray abilities to paint the surrounding area. The team with the most ground covered, wins. Ring any bells?

Combine this with the fact that Jeff's 'Hide and Seek' ability lets him swim through the ground á la Inkling and you've got a pretty familiar-looking gameplay loop. Also, "Splash Festival"? Hmm, the Splatfests would like a word...

Despite the obvious comparisons to Splatoon (and, more generally, to Overwatch), we at Nintendo Life have actually been having a pretty good time with Marvel Rivals so far — yep, we sometimes play consoles other than the Switch. We can't imagine for one second that the new game mode will rival Splatoon in terms of depth — heck, Square Enix's Foamstars dared tread remotely on Splatlands turf and look where that got them — but our fingers are crossed that this hero shooter might make the 'Switch 2' line-up one day.

Have you tried out Marvel Rivals yet? What do you make of this upcoming Splatoon-esque game mode? Let us know in the comments.