Iowa Alumnus Becomes Guardian of Marvel Video Game Universe

Photo courtesy Dakota Maysonet Dakota Maysonet fulfilled his dream of a career in video games when he joined Marvel Games in 2019.

Dakota Maysonet (15BA) is a defender for the thousands of characters in the Marvel Universe. As a creative development manager at Marvel Games, he provides context and guidance to partner video game companies to help bring their stories to life while honoring Marvel’s 86-year history. One of Maysonet’s current projects is Marvel Rivals, a free-to-play team-based video game in which players select Marvel characters to battle and complete objectives against an opposing team. As Season 5 of the game launches in November with new characters, storylines, and battlegrounds, the UI creative writing graduate continues to draw upon his Iowa experience to help captivate millions of gamers around the world.

Press Start

Photo courtesy Dakota Maysonet From Captain America to Hawkeye, Dakota Maysonet researches characters in the Marvel Comics database to ensure each one is authentically represented in Marvel Rivals.

Maysonet had dreamed of a career in video games since he was a kid. He became enamored with Pokémon Red on his Game Boy Color, slayed monsters with his parents on Nintendo 64’s Castlevania, and developed a longstanding affinity for World of Warcraft.

Maysonet enjoyed writing poetry and short stories in middle school and earned praise from his high school honors English teacher who proposed he consider a writing career. Maysonet learned about Iowa’s writing programs and loved the people and energy on campus during a summer visit. The Beverly Hills, California, native earned an Honors Program scholarship at Iowa, where he gained playwrighting experience, developed his poetry and short-story writing, and drew inspiration from courses like Shakespeare’s Villains, taught by Adam Hooks.

“There are lessons I learned there that I still use today—when it comes to framing a story and building a character,” says Maysonet, who joined Marvel Games in 2019. “The classes within Iowa’s English and creative writing programs were formative to say the least. I would even go as far as saying they have defined my writing style.”

Choose Your Character

Maysonet balances Marvel lore, partner input, and inspiration from pop culture to develop characters and storylines. He reads through some of the introductory or definitive runs of a character in the Marvel Comics database to review their interactions with others, see how their personality has evolved, and create interpretations that still feel authentic.

Maysonet interacts with a game’s story daily, whether it’s reviewing 600 lines of dialogue, character pitches, or backstory documents. For Marvel Rivals, he and his creative team hold conference calls with NetEase Games in Guangzhou, China, to discuss and refine every aspect of the game, like a character animation or new costume.

Level Complete

After several years of development, Marvel Rivals launched in December 2024, offering Maysonet a moment to reflect on his journey. “It was a feeling of ‘You’ve made it; the sprint is over, but now the marathon begins where you are doing what you set out to do,’” says Maysonet, who recently spoke on a panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2025. “This dream would not have been possible without Iowa—the classes, the people, and everything about the institution. It shaped who I am as a person and as a creative force.”

Photo courtesy Dakota Maysonet Dakota Maysonet balances Marvel lore, partner input, and inspiration from pop culture to develop characters and storylines for video games.