A working vehicle system may be in development for Marvel Rivals, and it has revived talk of a dedicated racing mode built around the game’s Formula R theme. The evidence so far comes from datamined files, a placeholder in-game model, and a short clip of a car being driven around a social hub.
Quick answer: Nothing is confirmed. Game files and an early test video point to a drivable vehicle, and one theory ties it to a “Formula R” racing mode, but NetEase has not announced any such feature and no release date exists.
What the vehicle leak actually shows
The first sign came from dataminer X0XLEAK, who reported that several new files and a model had been added to the game, indicating that developers are building a vehicle system. That post carried a clear warning that the content is unfinished and subject to change.
Shortly after, RivalsInfo shared a roughly one-minute clip of a car driving through the Hellfire Bay Beach social area. The footage shows the vehicle in both first- and third-person views. The model is a basic placeholder with no character-specific details, it moves awkwardly, and the camera repeatedly clips into the ground beneath it. In short, this is early test work, not a finished mode.
Crucially, the video does not confirm where the vehicle would live in the game. It could be a movement toy inside social hubs, or it could feed into a separate racing mode. Both leakers frame the racing idea as their own guess rather than something found in the files.
Where the Formula R racing theory comes from
Formula R is already an established cosmetic theme in Marvel Rivals, styled around racing uniforms and motorsport looks. Five heroes have received Formula R skins so far, which is why a vehicle system has fans connecting the dots toward an actual driving mode.
| Hero | Formula R skin |
|---|---|
| Luna Snow | Sonic Trailblazer |
| Squirrel Girl | Turbo Tailwind |
| Psylocke | Fleeting Butterfly |
| Black Cat | Wild Card |
| Thor | Lightning Fast |
These skins first started appearing in late 2025 and felt slightly out of place at the time. If a racing mode does materialize, they would fit together neatly, and NetEase could layer in power-ups or hero abilities to separate it from a plain time trial. That remains speculation, since no mode has been shown.
No release date, and Season 9.5 does not include it
There is no official date for the vehicle system, and the leakers themselves could not say when or where it would arrive. The Season 9.5 roadmap contains no Formula R cosmetics and no new racing mode, which makes a launch alongside that update unlikely.
Season 9.5 is set to release on August 7, 2026, and its focus is elsewhere. It adds The Hood as a new Vanguard, introduces the “Creed of Akkaba” event, and brings skins for Iron Fist, The Hood, and Moon Knight. The update also reduces the game’s file size on PC and consoles. A racing mode, if it happens, would come later, with a landmark update like Season 10 floated only as a guess.
How reliable is this
Marvel Rivals is one of the most heavily datamined live games around, and X0XLEAK has a strong track record of surfacing heroes and content well before official reveals. That history gives the vehicle files some weight. Even so, files and placeholder models often change or get cut, and a racing mode is a theory built on top of the data rather than a documented feature.
Until NetEase shows something officially, treat the driving footage as proof that a vehicle system is being tested and nothing more. The racing mode, the Formula R tie-in, and any launch window all sit firmly in the rumor column for now.
