- Hotfix 1.7.1.1 Patch Notes - 22 September 2026
Fixed "Lobby Search" and "Join with lobby code" features, which had stopped working after today's EOS maintenance.
- Rivals 2 is 50% Off - 17 September 2026
Suit up for less during Mecha Madness: GX with our 50% off sale! From 9/17 - 9/24 you can get Rivals of Aether 2 for half off on Steam. Our other games are on sale too this week if you're looking to pick one up for yourself or a friend.
- Rivals Esports: Tune into Riptide and UFA this Weekend! - 11 September 2026
September 11 - 13 Weekend Events Make sure to tune in for two star-studded Rivals 2 Championship Series events taking place this weekend - one in the United Sates and one in France! United States:Riptide 2026This fan-favorite 3-day tournament and convention held at the Kalahari Resort features:World-renowned competitors like CakeAssault, Bbatts, Sandstorm, Rongunshu, Sophilo, Beastly, Yoda Cage, darai, Mang0, Mr. Nice Guy, CheesyPotato, Gekkingga and many more! Beautiful production from the Midwest's finest broadcasters and an indoor waterpark!Tune in all 3 days to watch Rivals 1 Singles, Rivals II Doubles, and of course the main Rivals II Singles event with Top 8 ending on Sunday. Check out the full schedule below with streams on VGBootCamp3 on Friday and Saturday, and VGBootCamp on Sunday for the Top 8. Keep up to date with the latest from the event at https://bsky.app/profile/riptide…
- Patch 1.7.1 - Mecha Madness GX - 1 September 2026
We hope you’ve been enjoying our latest Rival, Gouie, that dropped just last month in August. With September arriving, we’re here with our Fall 2026 update to unveil our next event, a new Rivals 1 Throwback mode, plus a few gameplay and other updates. Check out the full patch notes below: Mecha Madness GXLock in, pilots. Mecha Madness returns as our second mega-event with a massive 3 month event track. Starting today, pick up the new Mecha Bundle featuring Mecha Zetterburn, Ranno, and Gouie. Players equipping any of the new event skins, or any of the following skins will receive 20% Bonus XP on the event track: Mecha Clairen, Mecha Wrastor, Mecha Kragg, Mecha Etalus, Mecha Absa, Dark Future Loxodont, Ranger Clairen, Ranger Fleet, and Cyber Zetterburn The Mecha Madness GX event track is loaded with tons of free cosmetics as usual. You can unlock Cyber Forsburn and Cyber Clairen skins, th…
- Hotfix 1.7.0.5 Patch Notes - 12 August 2026
Fix attempt for possibility of unbalanced teams when playing Online Doubles (2VS2) with a local player.
- Hotfix 1.7.0.4 Patch Notes - 12 August 2026
Bug Fix: Fixed being unable to queue for Online Doubles (2VS2) when teaming up with a local player.
- Hotfix 1.7.0.3 Patch Notes - 7 August 2026
Bug Fix: Auto Shorthop Aerial setting now functions with the right stick.Bug Fix: CPUs that go into ledge parry stun will no longer count as a failed edgeguard in the Edgeguard trial. Hitstun Gravity: 0.85 > 1.1Hitstun Max Fall Speed: 23.8 > 22.6 (default)This change was actually doing the opposite of what it intended: making Wrastor harder to combo at low percents and making him die (very slightly) earlier at mid percents. He was dying a little later at very high percents (which is what the change was originally based on) but these other side effects are not worth that miniscule benefit, so we're reverting both values. Reverted the puddle despawn timer.This change was too punishing for low level Orcane players and made picking up this already difficult-to-grasp character even more difficult. Orcane leaving his puddle on the other side of the stage to get free recoveries will still be a…
- Gouie Launch Celebration Sale - 6 August 2026
Rivals 2 is on sale for 50% off from 8/4 - 8/18 to celebrate Gouie’s launch! Tell your friends, or get a great price on a gift for them for the next two weeks via Steam gifting. As always, all of our game updates are FREE, including new characters. Check out what went into the latest update with Gouie in our patchnotes here.
- Hotfix 1.7.0.2 Patch Notes - 6 August 2026
Bug Fix: Jump cancel grab will no longer ledge cancel on frame 1 if your Air Grab Setting is set to None.Bug Fix: Fixed a bug that caused Tap Walljump users to automatically walljump when falling against a wall with no other inputs.Bug Fix: Auto Shorthop Aerial setting will now shorthop when Attack/Strong are pressed instead of just when they're held down. Bug Fix: Fixed a lighting issue on Julesvale that made the platforms appear darker than intended. Wrap visuals will now scale based on the character they wrapped. Bug Fix: Fixed a bug that would grant his Slime Time achievement when landing a single Down Air against an armored opponent.Bug Fix: Neutral Special can now suck up Maypul's seed, both when thrown normally and as an item.Bug Fix: Fixed a bug where articles with an active hitbox could trade with Neutral Special's inhale, canceling the attack while getting stuck in the sucked-…
- Hotfix 1.7.0.1 Patch Notes - 5 August 2026
Bug Fix: Fixed a bug that prevented tap jump from fullhopping.Added Pink Gouie to the shop. His tail tip hurtbox is now ungrabbable during his attacks that make it vulnerable (Down Tilt, Back Air, and Grabs.) Bug Fix: Empowered Special Pummel will now destroy existing clones when creating a new one.Bug Fix: Fixed clone command inputs when using Parry, AirParry, and AirGrab inputs while your joystick is neutral. Big Up Throw now uses the Heavy hit sound effect instead of the Medium one when landing.
- Pool Party Bundles Sale - 4 August 2026
To keep the good time summer vibes rolling, all of our Pool Party Bundles are now 20% off for a limited time! Look for the sale tag on these popular bundles in the Featured tab of the in-game shop: Pool Party 2025 Bundle (The OG)Pool Party Forsburn BundlePool Party Splashback 2026 BundleAnd just in case you didn't hear the news - make sure you don't miss anything from our latest update today like our latest Rival Gouie, custom Gameplay Modifiers, balance updates, and more.
- The Gouie Update - Patch 1.7.0 - 4 August 2026
IT'S BIG UPDATE DAY! We've got a new Rival, custom Gameplay Modifiers (so you can play YOUR way), multiple new sales and bundles, matchmaking improvements, the ability to queue Doubles and FFA with 2 local players, plus a ton of gameplay and balance updates. Read on for all of the details:New Rival - GouieGouie, The Lost Mireling, joins the roster as our 7th new Rival. Despite his tragic backstory, this little goo guy is still having fun, and is ready to spread some mischief with you and your friends. Gouie has multiple abilities that make him great for beginners like extra jumps, a super armored down special, plus tons of air control from being a floaty puffball. He also has the unique ability to go from the lightest character in the game to one of the heaviest, so you can play him with multiple styles. Get ready to throw goobers, sling slime, and be just a little evil with our newest…
- Gouie Launch Celebration Twitch Drops - 4 August 2026
To celebrate Gouie's launch, tune in to any Rivals streams on Twitch with drops enabled for the next two weeks to claim some rewards! From 8/4 at 10am PT - 8/18 10am PT you can claim the following drops:Gouie Launch Celebration Drop Rewards RewardWatch Time to Unlock1000 Aether Coins1 HourPurple Gouie Palette2 Hours100 Aether Bucks3 HoursHow to UnlockOnce you've earned a Drop, you'll see a notification in your Twitch Inventory in the top right where you can claim your item. Visit your Twitch Drops Inventory to claim your item. Then follow the link to this page, where you can log into your Aether Account, then click the "Unlock your Twitch Drops items in ROA2" button. Make sure you link your correct account or you won't receive your drops in game. If you're not sure what your Aether Account email address is, just press start on the main menu of Rivals II to see your account email.
- Workshop Creator Notice: Engine Update and Mod Compatibility - 27 July 2026
We've recently updated the main Steam branch of Rivals II to the latest version of Unreal Engine (5.8). Unfortunately, mods created in previous versions of Unreal are incompatible with this version and will need to be updated to work. As we plan to move Workshop out of beta and into the main game soon, this means ALL mods created with our previous modkits must be updated. Luckily, the process is simple. To get your mod up to date, download the latest 5.8 modkit and simply recompile your mod. Please make sure you test your 5.8 workshop items on the new public 5.8 workshop branch available on Steam.In one week, we'll be making the new 5.8 version of the Workshop Beta the default Workshop branch for Rivals 2. At this time we'll also private all mods older than 5.8 so that we only have functional mods visible on the workshop. Make sure to update your item on Steam Workshop to a 5.8 compatib…
- Everything Announced for Rivals of Aether II from EVO 2026! - 1 July 2026
Just last weekend Rivals II was featured at Evo 2026 as one of the main event games. We represented the platform fighter community on the largest stage in fighting games, which included a record-breaking Rivals tournament with 1,022 entrants! On top of the tournament, we also had a panel, a booth where you could play our next character early, chances to play the devs, multiple reveals, and more.If you missed it live, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Here's a full recap of everything that happened:Character RevealsGouieAt the start of our Top 8 on Saturday, we revealed our next upcoming character: Gouie - The Lost Mireling! Gouie is our 7th free character coming to Rivals 2. Stay tuned for plenty of more news on him as we all look forward to the August 4th release date. See the first look here in his official reveal trailer. Gouie is voiced by both the talented Gina Scarpa and Justice…
- Watch Rivals at Evo 2026 + Twitch Drops Info - 25 June 2026
Aether Studios is heading out to Las Vegas for Evo 2026! We'll be running a booth, watching, and playing in the biggest Rivals II event of all time with over 1000 entrants! We also have a few special announcements planned for the weekend. Here's how to tune in from home: View the full schedule along with higher resolution graphics for all of the Evo streams at evo.gg/scheduleIf you only have time to watch a portion of the Evo streams this weekend, make sure to tune in to twitch.tv/evo for our Developer Showcase Stream on Friday at 12pm PT, and the same channel for our Top 8 on Saturday at 6pm PT.Twitch DropsOn any Evo stream featuring Rivals this weekend, you can grab free Aether Coins, Icons, Bucks, and a palette just for watching! To receive the drops, just tune into the tournament stream for the allotted time, link your Twitch and Aether accounts, and then claim your drops. Check out…
- Hotfix 1.6.4.2 / 1.6.5 Notes - 23 June 2026
FYI, Most of this hotfix went out last week on 6/18, but didn't include notes. The Frozen Harbor fixes are new as of this morning's update that included Creator Bundle 2. We're sharing these today in the Steam patchnotes section for clarity on the latest changes:Changed the button that saves the Stick Calibration setting from A to Start.The top bar that displays the progress of a BO3 or BO5 set can now be enabled in Offline Versus.Implemented a tentative fix for a rare crash on Metal Refinery stage.Fixed Match History not updating anymore for some people.Fixed boot issues caused by the shader cache loading process after a GPU driver update. Stage and Item ChangesFrozen Harbor's walls will no longer get stuck if someone bounces off of them while they're rising.Frozen Harbor's walls' visuals now match the collision.Crystal Valley's bottom blastzone moved downward.Armada Fleet: All platfor…
- Creator Bundle 2 Is Here - Support Your Favorite Rivals Creators! - 23 June 2026
We're excited to announce Creator Bundle 2 is here! Creator Bundle 2 is another sick bundle full of skins, icons, titles & more based on another awesome set of creators who have been killing it supporting Rivals 2. Here are this bundles featured creators:PlupLast StockThrownOrcToma_ZeusDahGooseCoach ZekeEp1cLynn PetalsBowler This bundle doesn't just support these named creators, though. When you use any creator's code on this bundle, instead of the usual 5%, that creator will receive a 25% share. If you haven't used a Creator Code yet, you can enter it in the in-game shop by clicking the "Support A Creator" button. And the best part is - you also receive an extra 5% Aether Bucks kickback whenever you make real-money purchases with a Creator code on! Thanks again to our awesome community, creators, and players. We hope you enjoy these new features to support your favorite creators!
- Workshop Beta Update 1.6.4.28040.294 - 11 June 2026
These patchnotes are for our Workshop Beta branch on steam. To learn how to access this beta build please visit: ClientAs a part of getting closer to leaving the beta phase for Workshop, we've been working behind the scenes to test base game functionality of the workshop client to ensure there hasn’t been any regression in stability. In today’s Workshop Beta version we’ve enabled the dedicated server which means match making queues and lobbies are available. We know that playing the base game isn’t really the focus of the "workshop beta” but we ask that if you do happen to be playing in matchmaking or lobbies on this build and run into issue please report anything and everything you find to our nolt board.PLEASE BE AWARE if you play ranked in this build it WILL affect your real Elo, and we can not restore your Elo individually to account for crashes or other issues specific to this beta…
- Hotfix 1.6.4.1 Notes - 3 June 2026
Bug fix: La Reina and Slade will now use their character-specific respawn platforms and death effects as Arcade mode CPUs.Bug fix: The timer countdown announcer lines will no longer play when playtesting.Bug fix: The announcer will no longer say "Player Defeated" when a solo crew loses a character.Added missing title prefixes:The ArcherThe MoltenThe Glacier'sAdded missing title suffixes:of JusticeEmperorMight Catching her chair with Neutral Special will now restore her chair resource.She got the chair back, so she can deploy it again.Neutral Special and Down Special will now use their cooldown animations when trying to deploy a chair with no chair resource.Previously, they would just do nothing. This allows La Reina to use these moves to B-reverse for recovery mixups, the same as if the chair was on cooldown.
