Given all the negativity that is in the gaming space, it’s always great to talk about a video game doing incredibly well versus failing, flopping, launching in an incomplete state, etc. In the case of Marvel Rivals, this is one of the easiest cases of people being able to point to a game and go, “Yeah, that one is doing really well.” After all, it’s had tens of millions of players on it since launch, it’s been maintaining a steady player base, it’s launched a successful first season without too much backlash, and yes, it’s made plenty of money. Yet, there’s even more to talk about with the game.
In this case, it comes from an industry-spanning report from NewZoo. According to their numbers, the “transfer” of players from Overwatch 2 to Marvel Rivals was massive. As in, 45% of people playing Blizzard’s title went to the “hot new thing” once the game arrived. Just as important, pretty much all of them didn’t go back. That’s a staggering loss for Activision Blizzard, and yet, it speaks to the two mindsets that were in conflict here.
When Blizzard launched its sequel to the beloved team shooter, they fundamentally changed how things went and played, and the backlash was massive. They went from a 6v6 system to a 5v5 system, which messed with gameplay flow for those who were used to the prior style. Then, they made everything free-to-play so that they could double down on the microtransactions as the battle passes, and that led to even more controversy, including locking part of the roster behind those things! Finally, plenty of the promised content that would “expand the universe” either got canceled or didn’t even come close to living up to the hype. You can only burn gamers so many times before they bolt.
In contrast, the game featuring Marvel’s beloved characters was also 5v5 and free-to-play, but it felt more natural to be that way. Plus, the team at NetEase worked really hard to ensure that gamers could get everything they wanted in the game just by grinding and never had to do microtransactions if they didn’t want to. Sure, people did it anyway, but that was far more of a choice than what Blizzard was doing.
Sure, NetEase hasn’t done everything flawlessly, but Blizzard made so many faux pas that it took 15 seasons of their new game to get back to a “Positive” rating on Steam, while Marvel’s game has been praised since launch. That’s a big difference.
