Marvel Rivals seems to have had a successful recent closed beta test.
As reported by Game World Observer, SteamDB on the game’s beta reveals that it peaked at 52,671 concurrent players. In comparison, an earlier closed beta reached a peak of roughly 10,900 concurrent players.
This current closed beta period is only available in parts of North America, Europe, and Asia, and is invite-only. Developer Netease Games’ primary concern here seems to be stress testing performance on what they anticipate to be the game’s biggest markets in these three regions. Of course, bug fixing has been going on for months now, and they are sure to find and squash even more after launch.
This beta is going until August 5, so we may hear of even higher beta player numbers in the future. Now, on the face of it, that shouldn’t really sound like impressive, or interesting news. The reason it is newsworthy now is the unfavorable comparison it makes to another upcoming live service shooter.
And that would be Firewalk’s and Sony’s Concord. Concord’s early access and open beta periods saw dismal player numbers, peaking at 2,388 concurrent players on SteamDB at best. Now, we don’t know how many players were on PlayStation 5. But, even without that information, seeing those small player numbers coming in, after Sony had progressively allowed more players in to give it a try, is a discouraging sign for Sony.
As we had reported during the Early Access beta, those players who did get their hands on it say that it’s somewhere between passable to pretty good. And those impressions did not just come from influencers and games press, but ordinary players. So, we think the positive buzz wasn’t just marketing hype, as some gamers like to accuse the press of doing, but a sincere assessment of what turns out to have been work by some Destiny veteran developers.
The scenario here, then, is that Marvel Rivals is entering the competitive live service market with good word of mouth, while Concord doesn’t get that luxury. And Sony was expecting gamers to pay $ 40 for Concord, whereas Marvel and Netease agreed to bring it out as free-to-play, with likely a successful monetization plan for season passes and microtransactions.
Neither Marvel Rivals or Concord is guaranteed success, when many gamers today are content playing the same games they were playing five years ago. But it’s clear that Concord is entering an increasingly unfavorable situation. The question now seems to be whether Sony follows with their plans the whole way through, perhaps to cut their losses, or if they actually reinvest in Concord, which will also mean a delay.
Either way, Netease Games seems to be comfortably positioned for the launch of Marvel Rivals, whenever they plan to do so.
