Marvel Rivals is getting new feature to improve FPS but there’s a catch

Marvel Rivals players will soon be able to use a new Switch Shader Compilation Mode to increase the game’s performance. Here’s how it works.

While Marvel Rivals’ launch in December 2024 was instantly met with massive success, the free-to-play competitive shooter isn’t without issues. One particular problem plaguing many players is that the game can struggle in terms of performance.

A lot of players have reported that they often have to deal with FPS drops and crashes during matches. Instead of waiting for adjustments from developers, many even chose to use a Band-Aid fix by changing the game’s files at one point.

Things are expected to change in Season 2, though, thanks to a newly announced experimental feature that players with low-end hardware specs will be able to utilize.

Marvel Rivals’ Switch Shader Compilation Mode explained

Labeled as Switch Shader Compilation Mode, NetEase has claimed that this new feature in Season 2 will “dramatically reduce” the memory shortage, thus “cutting down severe FPS drops, frozen visuals, and crashes”, and it’s recommended for those playing with 16GB of RAM or less.

The way this works is that, by enabling this option in the PC launcher, the “shader compilation process” will only run when you first boot up the game after a new game version gets released or a graphics driver update. 

Currently, you’d have to sit through the shader compiling screen every time you launched the game. This feature is definitely a welcome option to prevent crashes and FPS drops due to high memory shortage. However, there are some issues that can come with it.

According to the developers, turning this option on may cause some materials to “render abnormally” for a few frames before “returning to their usual state” in each new match. However, they assured players that the rendering would work normally for the rest of the match afterward.

In addition, they warned that players may encounter “a slight stutter” when the system renders certain materials before the frames “stabilize into a smooth, continuous flow.”

Season 2 is almost upon us, and plenty of other changes are imminent. Gameplay-wise, there will be new Team Up abilities and changes to ranked play that will affect playing competitively.