Patch NotesMarvel Rivals9.5

Marvel Rivals Patch Notes - Season 9.5 Arrives (7th August 2026)

The Hood enters the roster as Season 9.5 kicks off, but the real headline is a 30% reduction in PC storage footprint. NetEase has also patched several long-standing hero bugs affecting Peni Parker, Rocket Raccoon, and others.

Nathan Lees6 min read
The Hood character art for Marvel Rivals Season 9.5 promotional key art
Share:

Season 9.5 of Marvel Rivals is now live, and whilst the addition of The Hood as a new hero and the Creed of Akabba event draw the eye, the patch's most practical change is one that affects every player's hard drive. NetEase has optimised texture compression across all platforms, shrinking the PC installation by approximately 30 percent, with PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S seeing roughly 20 percent reductions and PlayStation 4 a 7 percent cut. For players managing storage on ageing consoles or tight SSD budgets, this is material relief rather than cosmetic tidying.

The Hood himself arrives as a street-level character whose kit centres on dark magic, though the patch notes provide no detail on his abilities, positioning, or how he slots into the current meta. Two new story threads accompany the season: Carved in Stone for The Hood and Faces of the Moon for Moon Knight, expanding the game's narrative layer without disrupting gameplay. The Creed of Akabba event offers The Punisher's Sandstorm Soldier costume as a free reward for mission completion, with additional premium cosmetics available for purchase. A familiar seasonal structure that keeps engagement tied to both free and paying players.

A notable shift in the cosmetics economy arrives with the new PYO (Pick Your Own) Bundle format. Rather than forcing players to purchase fixed costume packages, the store now lets them select exactly which costumes and emote emojis they want, with the price adjusting automatically. NetEase claims the total cost remains equivalent to previous standard bundles for the same content, which means players gain choice without paying more, or paying less if they skip items they do not want. This week's three new costumes (The Hood's Oblivion's Whisper, Iron Fist's Furious Flow, and Moon Knight's Fist of Khonshu) roll out under this format, signalling a permanent shift in how cosmetics are sold.

Bug fixes address friction points that have affected specific hero interactions. Peni Parker's KO icon now displays correctly when defeating enemies with her Cyber-Web Cluster after Black Panther Team-Up activation. Rocket Raccoon's Repair Mode no longer abnormally refills charges after using Planet X Pals. Cloak & Dagger can now use Terror Cape reliably when The Hood Team-Up is selected, and they remain unaffected by Emma Frost's Ultimate control effect after freezing themselves. Namor's Monstro Spawns have been corrected to ignore Rocket's Vitality Acorns. On the map side, Angela can no longer get stuck in Thebes' corridor, and Times Square's Team-Up status bug has been resolved.

These fixes target edge cases rather than systemic balance problems, suggesting the patch is consolidating stability rather than reshaping how the game is played at a competitive level. The storage optimisation is the update's most universal impact, freeing space for players across all platforms. Combined with the cosmetics flexibility and the new hero addition, Season 9.5 positions itself as a quality-of-life and content refresh rather than a meta overhaul.

Full Patch Notes

▲ Buff✓ Fix

Greetings, Rivals!

Welcome to Season 9.5 of Marvel Rivals!

Desire is the prologue to power, and the precipice of corruption. When desire dons the mantle of power, darkness silently creeps.

This update begins on August 7th, 2026, at 09 : 00 : 00 (UTC), with estimated maintenance lasting 2 hours.

All-New Content

New Hero

Dark magic meets street hustle: The Hood enters Marvel Rivals!!

New Stories

  • New The Hood Lore - Carved in Stone
  • New Moon Knight Lore - Faces of the Moon

Store PYO Bundle

With over 2 new costumes released weekly, the Store introduces the new PYO format. Players can check which specific costumes and Emote Emojis they want to include, and the price will automatically adjust based on the selection. The adaptive price of the PYO Bundle remains exactly the same as the previous standard bundles for equivalent content.

This week's 3 new Store costumes will roll out using the PYO Bundle format.

New In Store

  • The Hood - Sinful Blackout Bundle
  • Iron Fist - Furious Flow Bundle
  • Moon Knight - Fist of Khonshu Bundle
  • The Hood - Oblivion's Whisper
  • Furious Flow - Emoji Bundle
  • The Hood - Emoji Bundle
  • Iron Fist - Furious Flow Chroma Blackened Rage/Cobalt Cruiser and Ultimate Ability VFX
  • The Hood Accessory - Madrecita Plush

Available from: August 7th, 2026, at 09 : 00 : 00 (UTC)

Season Event: Creed of Akabba

Complete missions to earn The Punisher's Sandstorm Soldier costume for FREE. Some Premium rewards for this event can also be purchased with Units.

Times Square: Captain America - The Winter Soldier Highlights Screening

Head over to the viewing area in Times Square to watch iconic clips from Captain America: The Winter Soldier! Watch the screening continuously for two minutes to unlock an exclusive Spray.

Avengers: Age of Ultron and Captain America: The Winter Soldier movie clips will alternate at the top of the hour throughout the event.

Event Period: August 7th, 2026, 09 : 00 : 00 to August 27th, 2026, 09 : 00 : 00 (UTC)

Twitch Drops

As Season 9 kicks off, get ready for a new round of Twitch Drops.

This round's drops include the Elsa Bloodstone - Will of Galacta costume along with related bundle content.

Drops Period: August 7th, 2026, at 12 : 00 : 00 (UTC) to September 4th, 2026, at 09 : 00 : 00 (UTC)

Fixes and Optimizations

All Platforms

  • Optimized texture resource compression strategy across all platforms, reducing hard drive footprint after installation: PC expected to decrease by ~30%, Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 by ~20%, and PlayStation 4 by ~7%.
  • Peni Parker's Panther Problem: Fixed a bug where Peni would occasionally show an incorrect KO icon when defeating enemies with her Cyber-Web Cluster after activating her Team-Up with Black Panther. Error wiped, we're back to firing clean clusters!
  • Rocket Raccoon's Repair Mode Reload: Fixed an issue where Rocket's Repair Mode charges could abnormally refill after using the Planet X Pals Team-Up ability. Rocket's tech is now officially up to spec.
  • Cloak & Dagger's Frosty Fix: Addressed a bug where Cloak & Dagger would still be affected by Emma Frost's Ultimate Ability control effect after using the Frozen Haven Team-Up to freeze themselves. The Divine Pair can now chill out in peace.
  • Namor's Monstro Mix-up: Fixed an issue where Namor's Monstro Spawns were incorrectly detecting Vitality Acorns released by Rocket Raccoon. The Sub-Mariner's pets now have their eyes trained on the real prizes.
  • Cloak & Dagger's Hooded Hiccup: Fixed a bug where, when selecting The Hood Team Up, Cloak would occasionally be unable to use Terror Cape. The Darkforce Dimension channels are fully restored!

Maps

  • Angela's Ancient Anomaly: Fixed an issue on the Thebes map where Angela would occasionally get stuck and become unable to move after passing through the corridor. The Hunter is back on the hunt!
  • Times Square Team-Up Tangle: Corrected a bug in Times Square where Team-Up statuses were improperly removed after exiting a team in a party state. The synergy remains strong once more.

Sources

Tags:Patch NotesMarvel RivalsPlayStationXbox
Share:

Stay on top of every update — find all the latest patch notes and gaming news at XP Gained. Join our Discord for live patch note alerts and discussion.

Written by

Nathan Lees

Gaming journalist and founder of XP Gained. Covering patch notes, breaking news, and updates across 160+ games.

Related Posts