Community:Rivals of Aether 2

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The Rivals of Aether 2 collaboration was a partnership between VRChat and Rivals of Aether developer Aether Studios for Rivals of Aether II. In February 2026, both companies announced five official Rivals-themed avatars for VRChat's Avatar Marketplace, which became available February 11, 2026, the same day as the announcements.

Overview

On February 11, 2026, VRChat announced the collaboration on Bluesky, and the avatars appeared on the Avatar Marketplace that day.[1] Aether Studios published a Steam news post for Rivals of Aether II the same day, naming the five characters, embedding an announcement trailer, and describing the avatars as premium implementations.[2] The announcement trailer was also published on YouTube.[3]

Rivals of Aether II

Rivals of Aether II is a platform fighting game developed by Aether Studios and directed by Dan Fornace.[4] A sequel to the 2017 indie fighter Rivals of Aether, it was released on October 23, 2024 on Steam for Windows.[4] The game uses Unreal Engine 5 and features 2.5D graphics with 3D character models, replacing the original's 2D pixel art style.[4]

The game was originally announced as Rivals 2 in April 2022, but was renamed to Rivals of Aether II in September 2024 to avoid confusion with Marvel Rivals.[4] A Kickstarter campaign in November 2023 raised over US$1.07 million from more than 16,000 backers against an initial US$200,000 goal.[5] As of April 2026, the game's roster includes 16 playable characters, with all post-launch character additions released as free updates.[4]

Content

Avatars

The collaboration added five Rivals of Aether II characters as marketplace avatars.[2] Each character is an established part of the Rivals of Aether franchise:[6]

  • Absa — titled "The Storm Architect", Absa is an engineer and martial artist from the Air Alliance in the Archai Mountains. She uses lightning and weather control in combat.[6]
  • Clairen — titled "The Flame's Salvation", Clairen is a warrior from a distant future timeline who wields a plasma sword. She was originally added as DLC in the first Rivals of Aether and returns in the sequel.[6][7]
  • Fleet — titled "The Archer of Justice", Fleet is a fox from Julesvale who originated in the spin-off Dungeons of Aether. She made her platform fighter debut in Rivals of Aether II.[8]
  • Kragg — titled "The Earth's Bastion", Kragg is a beetle-like defender of the Aetherian Forest and one of the Wall Runners who patrol the Rock Wall. He can control the earth with his will.[6]
  • Zetterburn — a lion from the Firelands and a general of the Fire Capital, Zetterburn is known for his razor-sharp claws and flame control. He is one of the original roster characters from the first game.[6]

Features

The avatars included custom colors (including color sliders), custom emotes (including gesture-based emotes), togglable accessories, dynamic eyes, and viseme lip sync.[2][1]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 VRChat (@vrchat.com), Bluesky post announcing the VRChat × Rivals 2 collaboration and Avatar Marketplace release (February 11, 2026). @vrchat.com on Bluesky. Retrieved April 8, 2026.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Rivals of Aether and VRChat Collide!" — Steam news for Rivals of Aether II (AppID 2217000). Dated February 11, 2026. Retrieved April 8, 2026.
  3. ↑ "Rivals of Aether and VRChat Collide!" — announcement trailer on YouTube (linked from the Steam news post). Retrieved April 8, 2026.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 "Rivals of Aether II" on Wikipedia. Retrieved April 9, 2026.
  5. ↑ "Rivals 2 by Aether Studios" on Kickstarter. Retrieved April 9, 2026.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 "Characters" on rivalsofaether.com. Retrieved April 9, 2026.
  7. ↑ "Character Reveal: Clairen, The Flame's Salvation" on rivalsofaether.com. Retrieved April 9, 2026.
  8. ↑ "Fleet, The Archer of Justice, is Coming to Rivals 2!" on aetherstudios.com. Retrieved April 9, 2026.

Official resources

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