NetEase Games has announced a $3 million competitive circuit for the team-based shooter Marvel Rivals, starting still in May 2025. The initiative, titled Marvel Rivals Ignite, was revealed via the game’s official X account on May 1.
According to the announcement, the Marvel Rivals Ignite circuit will span multiple global regions, with teams from the Americas, EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa), Oceania, Asia, and China eligible to compete. While full tournament details, including format, dates, and qualification process, have not yet been disclosed, the announcement confirmed that $1 million of the prize pool is reserved exclusively for the tournament’s grand finals.
The investment at the prize pool is not only impressive, but also a new sign that awareness strategies based on large prizing figures are once again trending in esports. Recently, Counter-Strike 2 and Dota 2 tournaments also gained headlines for featuring millionaire prizing amounts.
This is not the first esports initiative from Marvel Rivals. The game has been gaining tournaments being the most relevant to date the Marvel Rivals Invitational. The event was held also in multiple regions across March and April 2025 counted on traditional teams from the esports landscape such as Virtus.pro, Fnatic, OG, Luminosity in EMEA, 100Thieves, FlyQuest, Sentinels and ENVY in North America. However, the event’s prize pool was comparatively modest, offering up to $100,000 for each of the five participating regions.
It remains unclear whether the Invitational results will influence qualification for Marvel Rivals Ignite, or if the Americas region will now include countries beyond North America.
