Surprisingly, Marvel Rivals has excelled in filling the void where both Suicide Squad and Overwatch 2 admittedly failed. How this happened and why it succeeded is something I’m trying to figure out myself, though what you need to know is that the game is a great superhero shooter equipped with the perfect IP for the genre. So if you like comics/video games and want to look cool for the TikTok-watching kids of tomorrow? This is the game to try. The holy grail that comics has sought for in finally catching Gen-Z’s attention.
When I first reported about Marvel Rivals in March, there was a lot about the concept I just didn’t believe in. There had been this longstanding period since the pandemic where every company had pretty much given up on making large-scale, expensive AAA games, with great stories and high production value, in lieu of accessible service looters/shooters.
Games such as Anthem, Redfall, Overwatch 2, and even comic’s other big publisher, DC’s own Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, were all part of an unspoken gaming industry pivot that had failed. The pursuit of a long-term revenue stream from a service video game without any of the community management, which was the key element needed to make looter/hero/shooters work. I was tired of it. The gaming industry and many of my cohorts I came up with were tired of it. As was anyone who follows games.
Because the truth is that a depressing majority of gaming companies stopped trying to make quality in pursuit of trends. Releasing a AAA game is a high risk endeavor and can cost years and hundreds of millions. So many gaming companies just wanted to clone Fortnite, Destiny and Overwatch. All for the sake of lower costs and continual revenues.
What these companies failed to acknowledge is that those games worked because of its fans in relation to community managers. People from the company who talked with the fans and gave them a place to enjoy the game, talk about the game, and most importantly – guided them as to what was coming and why they should care to keep playing and paying for the experience. Those roles? Some of the first effected in the years of ongoing layoffs.
To be quite frank, it sucked and ruined gaming for so many of us for a time to see companies keep pursuing this model. To stop trying and just churn out IP playground-after-playground where players could shoot each other. It was glorified laser tag you paid a premium for at best, and at worst, a skin-farm meant to impress the very community you were spending time with that in turn, led to more game play and more spending.
The very essence and soul that made games fun became a bit of an oversaturated garbage heap of this style of game. Yet the industry kept going in this direction at a time where those who pursued the opposite, those who just made good games (looking at you Game of the Year nominees 2023), were profiting. Why no one cared and everyone kept wanted this model that failed again-and-again, was killing the gaming industry.
But then this year came out. Helldivers 2 and Palworld had a pretty decent following upon launch according to Steam streaming numbers and more importantly, both realistically scaled going from mid level indies to the successes they are right now. Which brings us to the end of the year, where finally, Marvel Rivals released and delivered on how to do the thing everyone was failing at right, surprising everyone in the industry – myself included.
Now, I’m a pretty big gamer and Marvel fanboy and I really thought this initiative wouldn’t succeed. But I was wrong.
As it stands, Marvel Rival’s player count has passed 10 million. The fan online community seems to love it as steam reviews are extremely positive and the player base is growing and topping all sorts of metrics. For games like this that depend on consistent users? This thing is blowing all data out of the water. And I am genuinely thrilled to admit that I am in love with their synergy strategy. I mean… just look at the obsession the world is now getting with Jeff The Landshark alone.
Now, NetEase is pretty good at this type of gameplay and has a proven track record. But Marvel Rivals is just blowing beyond any sort of gaming expectation, perhaps only lacking in critical metacritic score. According to IGN, data is also showing that people are buying battle passes and skins becoming the second top selling game on Steam by revenue.
None of this data by the way? Is accounting truly for console data just yet. So expect even higher numbers of just about everything from what I’m seeing so far.
The truth is, and regardless of critic scores, the game has everything going for it from art style, UI, to gameplay. Even the 3rd person point of view, a questionable choice many had regarding a game that’s meant to be a shooter, works in terms of gameplay animation. It also serves as a secondary form of potential revenue with skins that can be released for years to come. The only real question I have – how will Marvel Rivals keep up its communication and seasonal road map plans with its fans. Because that seems to be the deathtrap almost every single one of these games have.
That said it’s looking so far like Marvel Rivals succeeds across the board. It’s a fun game that gets the job done in playing Marvel superheroes (a whopping 33 and more to come) and kicking some absolute ass. And while I’ll always love the more Rocksteady Arkham series and Insomniac style of storylines (IT’S COMICS GAMES PEOPLE – THIS STUFF DESERVES AN ACTUAL STORY!) – I can see why this game in particular is fun.
You can play Marvel Rivals for free on the Playstation, XBox, Epic Games store and Steam.
