Action hero shooter "Marvel Rivals" started with a very successful launch, but it is now struggling due to decreasing player count.
With its reputation as one of the hottest online shooters of early 2025, the game's popularity has since cooled dramatically, putting its long-term prospects in doubt. However, there's still a way to turn things around for the beloved game.
Marvel Rivals' Meteoric Rise
When "Marvel Rivals" launched, it was an immediate success. The game reached over 10 million players in three days and earned over $135 million in its debut month. It features rapid-fire action and a big roster of Marvel characters, which made it a hit in the competitive shooter community.
In its January peak, more than 644,000 players played on Steam concurrently, making it one of the most-played games globally.
Player Count Plummets Almost 90%
Skip forward a few months, and the figures tell a very different tale. As tracked by SteamDB, "Marvel Rivals" recently peaked at just under 88,000 concurrent players in 24 hours, down 86% from its January peak. Although still in Steam's top 10 most-played games, the dramatic drop reiterates an emerging issue with player retention.
Why Are Players Abandoning 'Marvel Rivals'?
According to GameRant, some factors have led to the game's declining popularity. First, it could be about performance and balancing problems. Fans targeted suboptimal optimization and character imbalances, which hindered gameplay.
Second, the matchmaking scandal is pretty obvious. NetEase Games restricted team queue sizes for top ranks, leading competitive players to react negatively. Finally, it's also important to consider the post-launch burnout that some gamers experience. Similar to most new online games, novelty soon wore off as players turned to other games.
Deadpool Could Save the Day For 'Marvel Rivals'
Despite the player decline, "Marvel Rivals" retains an active player base, and NetEase continues to release updates. Rumors also point to Deadpool being added to the roster in the near future, courtesy of leaked voicelines mentioning the popular antihero.
Apart from that, Season 4 of competitive play is on its way in early September, offering the developers a chance to re-revitalize their player base.
The sudden drop in numbers doesn't indicate the end of "Marvel Rivals." Most online games experience the same trends with low points followed by revivals after significant updates or releases of new content. The only sound solution that NetEase should do is to improve each update so players won't have any reason to leave the game.
