Marvel Rivals reveals Captain America and The Winter Soldier, and confirms its leaked December release date

Key art for Marvel Rivals.
(Image credit: NetEase Games / Marvel Games)

Captain America and The Winter Soldier are joining Marvel Rivals, and the free-to-play hero shooter is launching later this year on December 6.

Earlier today at Gamescom Opening Night Live, Marvel finally unveiled the Marvel Rivals release date in full, and it's out in just a few months from now on December 6. Additionally, Captain America and The Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes are joining the hero shooter's roster at launch, adding to the expanding roster of Marvel characters you can duke it out as.

You can see the full gameplay reveal trailer for both the new heroes just below. Firstly, Captain America unsurprisingly uses his shield in combat, charging forward to block fire from enemy heroes, while also throwing his shield around like a boomerang between enemies.

As for The Winter Soldier, players will have a grappling hook to work with, pulling enemies to him, before tearing into them with a high-powered revolver. It also looks like Bucky will have a slam ability that he can manually aim onto the ground below, which should cause massive devastation.

Unfortunately, the Marvel Rivals release date leaked online just earlier today, ahead of the Gamescom Opening Night Live presentation. Additionally, we also got confirmation via the leak and new trailer that all the playable heroes will immediately be unlocked at launch, so you won't have to grind the free-to-play shooter to unlock any of your favorite Marvel characters.

Check out our full Marvel Rivals characters tier list for our complete impressions of all the heroes from the beta earlier this month.

Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.