NetEase Games has confirmed that the Marvel Rivals Ignite 2026 Preseason tournament comes with another round of free cosmetics, this time putting Gambit in the spotlight with his own Will of Galacta skin set. The Marvel Rivals news page has the full breakdown, and the event is already live as of March 27.
Gambit's Ignite Preseason drops
What the Ignite Preseason actually is
Ignite is NetEase's official esports tournament for Marvel Rivals, and the Preseason is the opening phase before the main competitive bracket kicks off. This marks the second time the studio has tied Twitch Drops directly to its esports calendar, building on what it started with the original Ignite 2025 event that gave away the MagikWill of Galacta skin.
The Will of Galacta collection has become one of the more consistent free-skin threads in the game. Since Season 0, Magneto, Hela, Adam Warlock, Namor, Emma Frost, Hawkeye, Magik, Star-Lord, Mantis, Blade, Mister Fantastic, Phoenix, Invisible Woman, Ultron, and most recently Scarlet Witch have all received versions of the skin through Twitch Drops. Gambit is the latest addition to that list.
The full Ignite Preseason drop schedule
The event runs in two phases, not as one continuous window. That split matters if you're trying to plan your watch time:
- Phase 1: March 27, 2026 at 2:00 PM UTC through April 24, 2026 at 2:00 PM UTC
- Phase 2: April 19, 2026 at 3:00 PM UTC through May 17, 2026 at 3:00 PM UTC
Note that the two phases overlap between April 19 and April 24, so there's a brief window where both are active simultaneously.
danger
The first two rewards (Spray and Nameplate) are tied to Phase 1 watch time, while the Emote and Costume require watch time during Phase 2. You cannot earn the costume by watching during Phase 1 alone.
Every reward and how long it takes
Here's the full breakdown of what's available and the watch time required for each item:
The costume requires 6 hours of total watch time during Phase 2, which is a slight increase compared to previous drop events where the full skin typically unlocked at 4 hours. That said, the stream can run in the background while you're doing other things, so the time commitment is more passive than it sounds.
Claiming drops from Twitch inventory
Where to watch and what counts
Unlike some Twitch Drop events that only count time on official channels, the Ignite Preseason drops work across both Marvel Rivals' official Twitch channel and any participating streamer channels that have the Drops Enabled tag active on their stream. That gives you a lot more flexibility in where you rack up watch time.
To make sure your hours actually register, your NetEase Games account needs to be linked to your Twitch account before you start watching. The linking is done through the official Marvel Rivals Twitch Drops page. Once that connection is in place, progress tracks automatically.
After claiming a reward through your Twitch Drops Inventory, the items take between 24 and 72 hours to appear in your in-game inbox in Marvel Rivals.
Running alongside Season 7 drops
What surprised me most about this timing is that the Ignite Preseason drops are running concurrently with the Season 7 Scarlet WitchWill of Galacta Twitch Drops, which stay active until April 17. That means for a roughly three-week stretch, players can technically be earning progress toward both sets of rewards at the same time, depending on which streams they're watching.
The Scarlet Witch costume requires 4 hours of watch time on regular Marvel Rivals streams. The Ignite Preseason drops require streams with the tournament tag active. These are tracked separately, so you'll want to confirm which event a stream is contributing to before settling in.
Marvel Rivals Season 7 also recently added White Fox to the hero roster as a new Strategist, and a March 26 balance patch adjusted Deadpool and several other heroes ahead of the Ignite Preseason kickoff. For the latest patch notes and event updates, check the Marvel Rivals news hub.
