The second content drop of Season 8.5 lands in Marvel Rivals as version 20260625, leaning hard into the Rivals Summer Festival. It brings the Uplifting Welcome event with free Units, new Daredevil and Black Widow summer bundles, a Creator World Championship Twitch Drops campaign, and a round of PC, mode, hero, and map fixes.
Quick answer: The update goes live on June 25, 2026 at 09:00 UTC with no server downtime. Patch the game and log in, then visit Hellfire Bay Beach during a 15-minute Uplifting Welcome ceremony from June 28 to claim 200 free Units.
Release time: June 25, 2026 at 09:00 UTC
Uplifting Welcome event: free 200 Units, title, and emote
The Uplifting Welcome is a recurring beach ceremony at Hellfire Bay Beach. The first one starts at June 28, 2026, 00:00 UTC, and a fresh 15-minute ceremony begins at the top of every hour after that. The final ceremony begins on July 1, 2026, 00:00 UTC, which closes the event window.
Stepping onto the beach during any active 15-minute ceremony grants the full reward set in one go. You receive 200 Units, the “Rivals Summer Festival 2026” title, and a universal “Uplifting Welcome” emote that every Hero can use.
Note: Because each ceremony lasts only 15 minutes and runs hourly, you can join a later slot if you miss one, as long as it is before the final ceremony begins on July 1.
New store bundles and summer swimsuit skins
This update continues the 2026 Swimsuit Special rollout, and the headliners are the Daredevil and Black Widow beach looks. Both arrive as paid bundles in the store rather than event rewards.
| Item | Availability (UTC) |
|---|---|
| Daredevil – Sonar Savior Bundle | June 26, 02:00 to July 24, 02:00 |
| Black Widow – Aquatic Assassin Bundle | June 26, 02:00 to July 24, 02:00 |
| Daredevil – Sonar Savior Emoji Bundle | From June 26, 02:00 |
| Daredevil – Sonar Savior Customizable Parts | From June 26, 02:00 |
| Black Widow – Aquatic Assassin Chroma (Toxic Trace / Golden Gossamer) and Customizable Parts | From June 26, 02:00 |
| Blade – Bats Getting Louder Emote | From June 26, 02:00 |
| Cyclops – X-Press Juice Emote | From June 26, 02:00 |
The Sonar Savior and Aquatic Assassin bundles are limited-time, so they leave the store after July 24, 02:00 UTC. The emotes, customizable parts, and Black Widow chromas are available from June 26 alongside the bundles.
Creator World Championship Twitch Drops
The Creator World Championship tournament runs alongside a tied-in Twitch Drops campaign. Watching qualifying streams during the window earns an exclusive Spray and Emoji.
Drops window: June 26, 2026, 12:00 UTC to July 19, 2026, 21:00 UTC.
Fixes and optimizations (PC, modes, heroes, maps)
Beyond the seasonal content, version 20260625 carries a set of technical and gameplay fixes across the client and several Heroes and maps.
PC and console performance
- NVIDIA DLSS 4.5 Frame Generation now supports an Auto mode. When set to Auto, the system adjusts frame generation targets based on your monitor’s refresh rate to lock the frame rate to your screen as closely as possible.
- The K’un-Lun: Shenloong Arena 18 vs. 18 Bounty Annihilation mode and map are optimized for Xbox Series S. They become fully playable on that console once this week’s maintenance ends.
Hero and map fixes
| Fix | Detail |
|---|---|
| Cyclops – Optic Ascent | The horizontal displacement distance no longer varies with client frame rate, so the movement is consistent. |
| Magneto – Metal Bulwark | Fixed a rare case where the shield applied to teammates could vanish instantly on cast. |
| Lower Manhattan | Removed tricky collision geometry where characters could get stuck or clip out of bounds. |
With the patch live, the immediate priorities are simple. Grab the free 200 Units from the Uplifting Welcome ceremonies starting June 28, decide whether the Daredevil and Black Widow summer bundles are worth your Units before July 24, and link Twitch if you want the Creator World Championship spray and emoji.
