The video game industry has seemingly grown obsessed with Norse mythology in recent years. Major AAA titles likeAssassin’s Creed Valhalla, indies likeValheim, and even the mobile gameFire Emblem Heroesuse Norse mythsin their narratives. Chris Hemsworth’s Thor becoming a major part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) likely played a part in raising awareness, and he remains one of the only original players left in that universe following 2019’sAvengers: Endgame. Now, the God of Thunder is making himself known in Kabam’s mobile gameMarvel Realm of Champions.
Marvel and DC Comics operate multiple realities with different continuities, and Kabam set out to create its own take on the Marvel universe with 2014’sMarvel Contest of Champions; a touch-based mobile fighting game.Realm of Championsis an offspring ofContestthat focuses on real-time, team-based action brawling reminiscent ofmultiplayer online battle arenas (MOBAs) likeLeague of Legends. However, today’s 3.0 update that introduces Thor is also a major step toward the developers' more unique vision for what a mobile game can be. Game Rant spoke toRealm of Championsdevelopment director Ethan Young and creative director Gabriel Frizzera about the 3.0 update.
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Realm of Championstakes place on Battleworld, a planet where realities combine and lead to Houses forming based on Marvel characters or families. Each of these has an army of Champions led by a unique character known as its Baron. For example, the House of Iron is comprised of different variants of Iron Man led by Stark Prime, whom Frizzera describes as an AI that took over when Tony Stark disappeared. He said this world has aGame of Thronesdynamic with the Houses warring for control after the mysterious death of its God-KingMaestro, an alternate version of The Hulk. As Stark Prime attempts to make peace the player is brought to Battleworld by The Watcher to gain favor with each Baron so they can learn more about who is driving this conflict from behind the scenes. As Frizzera said,
“That is the main thread, but if you don’t care about story or anything you don’t even need to pay attention. It’s there, it’s part of the texture of the world, but it’s not forced upon you.”
What the story facilitates is the player, known as a Summoner, becoming a recruit in the House of their choice. As of Version 3.0, Thor is the eighth Champion type players can become; “a guy with a hammer trying to make his way in the world,” according to Frizzera. The Thor corps of the Asgardian Republic are led by Baron War Thor. These Barons are original characters made by Kabam who take and twist inspirations from other Marvel properties. For instance, President Peggy Carter of the Patriot Garrison is inspired by Captain America fromMarvel Puzzle Questand has an eyepatch reminiscent of Nick Fury.
The reality-blending story inRealm of Championsalso lends to its stand-out mechanic: Players can mix-and-match weapons and gear sets for their Champion, providing them with different attacks and “Synergies,” or passive abilities. Young describes Thor as an all-around brawler somewhere between the damage-per-second (DPS)-focused Black Panther and tanky Hulk. “When we were thinking about Thor we wanted to make sure we incorporated all those iconic elements,” Young said, from “devastating” flying attacks to lightning andthrowing his hammer Mjolnir. The weapon also introduces a new mechanic called “Charge Abilities” that lets players hold down the screen to improve an attack’s effectiveness.
However, his alternate weapon Stormbreaker allows Thor to specialize and become more DPS-focused, with a new execution mechanic called “Titan Killer” that instantly eliminates enemies at low health. It’s unique to Thor, though Young said that doesn’t preclude the team from adding similar execution mechanics to Champions down the line. Frizzera said he originally wanted to call the execution “Go for the Head,” referencing Thor’s failure to kill Thanos in2018’sAvengers: Infinity War, but felt Marvel would think it was “a little too violent.”
Frizzera is a long-time comics fan and said Thor has always been one of his favorites going back to Walt Simonson’s run which began in 1983. He points to the huge diversity in representations of the character over the years, includingHemsworth’s more humorous “dude” take inThor: Ragnarok, as inspirations for the different gear types inRealm of Champions. The initial Thor takes his traditional disk plate and wing helmet look, but the five gear slots (head, chest, neck, arm, and leg) can be swapped with various looks such as the more alien Sakaar gladiator look fromRagnarok, armor based on the Destroyer, Odinforce Thor, and more. Different combinations unlock different Synergies. According to Young,
“There’s a bunch of really cool abilities that Thor has, he’s one of our most versatile heroes to date. I think the customization options on Thor are one of the best we’ve done. It’s my personal favorite, they look absolutely incredible.”
Young said the team takes a holistic approach to balance. While the previous Champion “Super Soldier” didn’t offer any specific lessons,Marvel Realm of Championshas “pretty advanced analytics” to see win rates, ability damage, and more that it uses to determine what the game needs and what players want to see. For example, disabling movement is currently a popular strategy, according to Young, so the team is looking to add new means of play that impact this meta without invalidating it.
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Both Young and Frizzera point to one of the most interesting parts of development being the times when players discover a strategy never considered by the developers during playtesting because of “pre-conceived ideas” about how the Champions should work. They expect the same thing to happen with Thor, and Young said Kabam could introduce weapons or gear to push characters in ways players are already leaning.
Thor is not the only thing added in Version 3.0. One of the stand-out pieces of content is a boss fight with Baron Skaar, Warlord of the Gamma Horde. While many of the game’s early modes resemble those seen in MOBAs, Young said this style of boss battle would not be in a game likeLeague of Legends, adding a new arena and changing the game’s camera angle. More bosses with different mechanics are already being planned if players enjoy the experience with Skaar, many of them based off the different Barons.
The mobile game was never envisioned as a MOBA, according to Frizzera, as the team preferred to avoid trappings like longer play sessions, slow movement, and minions to control. “We’ve never thought about ourselves and what genre we fit,” Frizzera said. “We aren’t trying to stay in a lane. We’re just trying to take this universe and figure out where it fits, what players are enjoying most.” He said the team is experimenting with more that could appear in Version 4.0, 5.0, and beyond, not even shooting down more ridiculous ideas like a bumper car racing mode starringMODOK.
A new mode called Summoner’s Journey is also included in Version 3.0, providing a single-player progression experience with chapters centered on different Houses that offer rewards and lore. Competitive Seasons are also beginning this month, with players able to reach for a “Legendary” rating before a Season turns over. On top of additional balance changes and bug fixes,Realm of Championsis also now allowing purchased currency to overflow a player’s resource cap, adding an “Avenger” rating to Arena Conquest mode, as well asimproving the HUDand targeting system.
“This is our biggest update so far, and hopefully players enjoy it,” Frizzera said. “This is a marathon for us, it’s not a sprint. Every step of the way we’re going to add more to the experience. Version 3.0 is a big step, but it’s not the last step.”
Marvel Realm of Championsis available now on Android and iOS devices.
