Releasing an online shooter for an already saturated market is no easy feat. The recent failures of Concord et XDefiant are perfect examples: players tire more and more quickly and servers close at high speed. However, a newcomer is already unanimous among gamers around the world. Marvel Rivals made its debut on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series on December 6 and continues to be talked about. The third-person shooter developed by NetEase seems to have found all the keys to success.
WhileOverwatch 2 struggling to regain the popularity of his great years, the Marvel-branded title takes the opportunity to respond to players' expectations which have not yet been met. Blizzard's FPS is widely criticized for its monetization, the opportunity for NetEase to test the opposite experience. In Marvel Rivalsplayers have access to all content without additional purchase. While in its beginnings, Overwatch 2 blocked its characters behind the battle pass. Speaking of battle passes, Rivals introduces a small revolution: these are not limited in time and can be completed at any time after purchase. And to top it off, free currency is convertible to premium currency at a 1:1 rate. What happens when a business model is more respectful? No surprise: the players are there.
A start with great fanfare
It only took 72 hours for Marvel Rivals reaches the symbolic bar of 10 million players. Even more impressive, the SteamDB platform notes that the hero shooter was able to bring together nearly 481,000 players simultaneously via Steam alone. Remember that the game is also available on Epic Games Stores, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series, suggesting a staggering total of simultaneous connections. These launch statistics are impressive to say the least and prove that the combination of a popular license and a healthy economic system can work wonders. In comparison, Overwatch 2 experienced its worst hours on Steam following the game's launch, with peak attendance at around 35,000 players.
But it is over time that Marvel Rivals will have to ensure, because the art of maintaining the interest of players is not given to everyone. For now, the title is banking on an aggressive promotional campaign, with a “0” season battle pass billed for only €5 as well as a wave of free rewards to be obtained via the Twitch Drops system. Hopefully the arrival of a major new competitor motivates Blizzard to redouble its efforts to renew Overwatch 2. To be continued.
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