Season 5.5 of Marvel Rivals is planned to launch on Friday, December 12, 2025. This date is locked in as the mid-season update for Season 5 and is when Rogue becomes available as a playable hero.
The developer has not yet published a precise launch hour for Season 5.5. However, recent major updates in Season 5, including the Season 5.0 patch, have started maintenance at 09:00 (UTC) with around two hours of downtime before servers fully reopen.
With that pattern in mind, players can reasonably plan for:
- Server maintenance beginning around 09:00 (UTC) on December 12.
- Season 5.5 gameplay becoming available roughly two hours later, assuming a similar maintenance window and no delays.
Until an official maintenance notice is posted in-game or on social channels, treat these times as the expected schedule rather than a final, guaranteed timetable.
Marvel Rivals Season 5.5 start time by region
The table below uses a planned maintenance start of 09:00 (UTC) on December 12, 2025. Local times are provided as a practical reference; always follow any final timings the developer announces for your region.
| Region | Local date | Local time (maintenance start) |
|---|---|---|
| US West (Pacific Time) | December 12, 2025 | 01:00 |
| US Central (Central Time) | December 12, 2025 | 03:00 |
| US East (Eastern Time) | December 12, 2025 | 04:00 |
| UK (GMT) | December 12, 2025 | 09:00 |
| Central Europe (CET) | December 12, 2025 | 10:00 |
| Japan (JST) | December 12, 2025 | 18:00 |
| Australia East (AEDT) | December 12, 2025 | 20:00 |
If the usual two-hour maintenance window holds, gameplay should resume roughly two hours after the times shown here.
Marvel Rivals Season 5.5 duration and link to Season 6
Season 5.5 is structured as a one-month half-season. It is expected to run from around December 12, 2025 to approximately January 12, 2026, mirroring the pacing of earlier half-seasons.
Once Season 5.5 ends, Season 6 is planned to begin immediately. The first update of a new season is typically the most substantial in terms of new heroes and systems, so Season 5.5 serves as the bridge between Gambit’s debut in 5.0 and the next wave of roster additions in Season 6.
New hero Rogue in Marvel Rivals Season 5.5
Rogue joins the Marvel Rivals roster on December 12 with the launch of Season 5.5. She arrives as a Vanguard, pairing high frontline durability with disruptive melee tools and her signature power absorption.
In the Season 5 story, Rogue’s honeymoon with Gambit is interrupted by a heist gone wrong in the Collector’s domain and by her contact with a mysterious energy source referred to as Colonium D. Those events underpin her new powerset in-game.
Key elements of Rogue’s kit in Season 5.5 include:
- Frontline melee playstyle: Rogue is designed to charge into enemy lines, using close-range attacks to open space for her team rather than sniping from afar.
- Power absorption on takedown: After bringing down an enemy hero, Rogue can absorb one of their abilities. She also gains a baseline buff that depends on the target’s role (for example, taking different bonuses from a Duelist versus a Strategist).
- Signature ability theft: In some cases, she can copy standout abilities from specific heroes, such as Doctor Strange’s protective shield or Loki’s regeneration field, turning the enemy’s strengths into her own tools.
- Ultimate that drains enemy ultimate energy: When Rogue activates her ultimate, nearby enemies slowly lose their stored ultimate charge. At the same time, Rogue gains additional buffs again tied to enemy roles, making her even more threatening the longer she stays in the middle of a fight.
Because Rogue is tied directly to the Season 5.5 launch, she becomes playable as soon as the update finishes and servers come back online on December 12.
Team-Up ability updates in Season 5.5
Season 5.5 makes several notable changes to Team-Up abilities, reshuffling how some heroes interact and expanding a few existing synergies.
- Emma Frost and Psylocke – Mental Projection removed: The previous Mental Projection Team-Up between these two heroes is being retired.
- Emma Frost joins Cheating Assault: Emma Frost is folded into the Cheating Assault Team-Up and gains a new ability called Ice Out Diamond. She can:
- Unleash a cone of frost that slows enemies caught in front of her.
- Enter her diamond form to create a wall of diamond ice, blocking enemy movement and reshaping the battlefield.
- Psylocke joins Sword of Duality: Psylocke now taps into both light and dark energy under this Team-Up:
- Light energy: She throws a returning shuriken that damages enemies and heals allies. When the shuriken comes back, it restores more health based on how many targets it hit.
- Dark energy: She scatters a ring of dark dust that damages enemies in range and enters a phased, invisible state, allowing her to reposition safely.
- Rogue joins Explosive Entanglement: Rogue becomes part of the existing Explosive Entanglement Team-Up with Gambit and Magneto. Gambit channels kinetic energy into Rogue, and when she activates the Team-Up ability, every attack she makes:
- Deals area damage around its impact point.
- Heals nearby allies at the same time, turning her offense into team sustain.
- Additional Team-Ups announced: New combinations such as Psylocke x Cloak & Dagger and Emma Frost x Luna Snow are set to appear during Season 5.5, further expanding the synergy web for these heroes.
Events and winter content during Season 5.5
Season 5.5 is closely tied to the game’s winter content, with multiple overlapping events planned during the half-season.
- Jeff’s Winter Splash Festival (returning event): The popular winter event is returning during Season 5.5 with a new twist:
- The event takes place on a brand new limited-time map called Jeff Land.
- Jeff Land features a three-way brawl format rather than a standard two-team mode.
- Players can use three different drift-style builds, each with its own skill set, to battle across the festive map.
- Festival rewards will be tied to playing this mode and other winter activities once the event is live.
- Winter 2025 limited-time event: A broader Winter 2025 event is planned alongside the festival, bringing back seasonal activities and rewards. Leaks and previews point toward new winter skins and a likely return of Jeff-themed limited-time content.
- Holiday events after the December 18 update: Holiday and winter-themed events, including Jeff’s Winter Splash Festival, are scheduled to kick off right after a December 18 update that lands partway through Season 5.5.
- Mystery burger in Times Square: The Times Square social map will receive a new interactable item at Pym’s Test Kitchen after the December 18 update. The “mystery burger” is designed to produce surprising in-game effects when used during the holiday period.
These events are staggered within the half-season: Rogue and the core Season 5.5 patch land on December 12, while much of the winter event content unlocks starting December 18.
New skins and cosmetics in Season 5.5
Cosmetic content is a major focus of Season 5.5, with both lore-driven and seasonal skins planned throughout the half-season.
- Rogue-focused skins:
- A “Savage Land Rogue” Legendary skin is lined up for launch, giving Rogue a prehistoric, jungle-inspired look.
- Additional Rogue skins are in the pipeline, including:
- A set of wedding-themed cosmetics for Rogue and Gambit, teased in Season 5 trailers.
- An extra launch skin and a Competitive Gold-tier style for Rogue tied to ranked rewards.
- Hero skins at Season 5.5 launch:
- Mark 1 Iron Man – a look inspired by Tony Stark’s earliest armor.
- Cap Wolf Captain America – a werewolf-themed costume for Steve Rogers.
- Grandmaster’s Champions series:
- New Grandmaster’s Champions-themed skins are planned for Human Torch, Moon Knight, Angela, and Emma Frost, matching the overarching Elders of the Universe and chessboard storyline of Season 5.
- Psylocke and Luna Snow winter skins:
- Upcoming skins for Psylocke and Luna Snow have been identified for Season 5.5, with Luna Snow’s outfit especially suited to the winter setting.
- Holiday and winter skins:
- A wider set of winter and holiday cosmetics will roll out alongside Jeff’s Winter Splash Festival and the Winter 2025 event, including both reruns and new additions.
Not all of these skins arrive on December 12. Some drop with the Season 5.5 patch, while others are tied to the December 18 update and later event phases during the half-season.
Ranked rewards and what to expect on patch day
Season 5 introduced a revised ranked rewards system that continues to apply during Season 5.5. Each half-season offers one Gold-tier costume as its main competitive reward. To earn the Gold-tier skin for the 5.5 half-season, players must:
- Complete at least 10 ranked matches during the 5.5 half of the season.
- Finish that half-season at Gold rank or higher.
Placement matches also remain in effect: your first ten ranked games in Season 5 determine your initial rating, and failing to complete all ten in a given half-season means missing that half’s Gold costume, even if you play later.
On the technical side, Season 5.5’s rollout should resemble earlier seasonal patches:
- No pre-load: There is no separate pre-load process for the Season 5.5 update, so consoles and PC clients will begin downloading the patch only once it is live.
- Downtime window: New seasons typically require around two hours of maintenance. Plan for the game to be unavailable from the start of maintenance (expected around 09:00 UTC) until it completes.
- Platform updates: On PlayStation, Xbox, and PC launchers, expect to install a client update when maintenance begins or shortly before servers reopen.
- Final timing checks: Closer to December 12 and again around the December 18 update, check the in-game news and official social channels for the exact maintenance schedule.
