Marvel Rivals April 23 Patch: Blood Hunt PvE Mode, Hellfire Gala 2026, and a Cloak & Dagger Fix
Marvel Rivals' next patch lands April 23 with a brand-new PvE mode called Blood Hunt pitting Super Hero squads against Dracula's vampire swarms, the kickoff of the Hellfire Gala 2026 event featuring Emma Frost's long-promised Gala Glam costume, and two premium bundles for Magik and Gambit. A bug keeping Cloak & Dagger's Ultimate stuck during lag is also getting squashed.
Marvel Rivals is rolling out its next content drop on April 23, 2026 at 09:00 UTC, and there's no server downtime this time — just patch and play. The update brings a new PvE mode, the annual Hellfire Gala event, fresh store bundles, and a quiet-but-meaningful fix for Cloak & Dagger mains.
New PvE Mode: Blood Hunt
The story beat: the breakout at The Vault accidentally set Dracula free, and vampires are once again swarming New York City. In Blood Hunt, players assemble a Super Hero squad and launch a high-stakes purge of the bloodsuckers. It's the latest in a line of PvE side modes NetEase has used to give Rivals' roster of Super Heroes a break from the usual team-based PvP grind, and it leans hard into the horror-adjacent corner of the Marvel universe — think Moon Knight, Blade, and the rest of the supernatural shelf.
Blood Hunt Availability
- Opens: April 23, 2026 at 09:00 UTC
- Closes: July 30, 2026 at 09:00 UTC
- Mode Type: PvE — cooperative Super Hero squad vs. waves of vampires
Hellfire Gala 2026 Kicks Off
The highly anticipated Hellfire Gala 2026 officially kicks off this week. The headline reward is Emma Frost's Gala Glam costume — the skin NetEase promised fans last year — and players can unlock it for free by completing Gala missions. Additional rewards include Phoenix's Verdant Vogue and Moon Knight's Suave Spector costumes, alongside a slate of other cosmetics.
Hellfire Gala 2026 Window
- Opens: April 23, 2026 at 09:00 UTC
- Closes: May 28, 2026 at 09:00 UTC
- Free Reward Headline: Emma Frost — Gala Glam costume
New In Store: Magik and Gambit Bundles
On the store side, two premium character bundles arrive on April 24 at 02:00 UTC:
- Magik — Netherworld Noble Bundle
- Gambit — Alluring Ace Bundle
Both bundles are limited time and run through May 22, 2026 at 02:00 UTC. A separate Netherworld Noble Emoji Bundle and a Moon Knight — Suave Spector Ultimate Ability VFX unlock also open April 24 at 02:00 UTC with no announced end date, so expect them to stay in rotation longer than the character bundles.
Hero Fixes: Cloak & Dagger's Darkforce Disconnect
The patch is light on balance tuning, but it does squash a notable bug for Cloak & Dagger players. Under poor network conditions, Tandy and Tyrone's Ultimate Ability dash could occasionally get permanently stuck in place — a crushing issue in competitive queues. After the patch, that buffering glitch is gone and the duo is back on the move as intended.
What This Means for Marvel Rivals Players
This is a multi-surface update: PvE players get a fresh co-op objective in Blood Hunt, PvP and cosmetics-focused players have a free-to-earn Emma Frost skin and a full Hellfire Gala track to chase, and Cloak & Dagger mains finally get relief from a lag-induced Ultimate bug. No downtime means you can hop in the moment the patch lands on April 23 — and with Blood Hunt running all the way to July 30, there's no need to rush the vampire purge in week one.