There are many ways to interpret success in the gaming space. We’ve talked about that quite a bit in the past. For free-to-play titles, though, the only real ways to measure success are via the number of players you constantly have playing your title or how much money those players are investing in your game via microtransactions. For something like Marvel Rivals, it was banking on the love of the comic universe to bring people in and then the various skins and other purchases to help keep it afloat. The good news for developer NetEase is that it’s been crushing it on both fronts.
We already know that the game already has over 20 million players, and it seems to continue growing, so the team doesn’t have to worry about massive player number drops so long as it keeps updating content and keeping the game balanced. Then, via Game World Observer, we know that in just the first month of the title being fully up, it’s made over $136 million! That’s a lot.
Oh, but it gets even more crazy, as about $36 million of that came from China alone. That’s important because NetEase is a Chinese company, so it would make sense that a lot of its profit came from its home nation, as it’s undoubtedly advertising it quite a bit there.
Wait, there’s even more to break down here. After all, the game is on multiple platforms. So, how much is it doing on each platform? On the PC/Steam, it’s apparently doing the best, which isn’t too much of a surprise. Apparently, it made over $54 million there. Then, in second place is the PS5, which apparently generated around $27 million. Finally, for consoles and PCs, at least, there’s the Xbox Series X, which brought in just $2.7 million. Ouch.
If you’re thinking, “Those numbers don’t add up,” you’re right, as there’s one more factor here. NetEase has its own client-server from which it can operate the game, and that’s apparently where the rest of the money is coming from.
Regardless, Marvel Rivals is a hit by all metrics, and those who analyzed the numbers of its first month admit that if NetEase can hold this line and continue to bring in players, it can easily bring in over a billion dollars in 2025.
We already know about the contents of Season 1, including the arrival of the Fantastic Four, Dracula, and possibly the first PVE event in the game. So, gamers have a “vested interest” in staying with the title.
