Marvel Rivals has succeeded where so many else have failed

To my left, Thor and Groot are entangled in a web of branches and electricity whilst Hawkeye and Black Widow fire shots from the ramparts. Rocket Raccoon is scurrying around my feet whilst Jeff the Land Shark is swallowing up the rest of my team ready to throw them off the side of the map.

Before I even have a chance to throw a heal to my Doctor Strange, Iron Fist has appeared from the stratosphere, knocking me out cold in two seconds flat.

Just the average round in Marvel Rivals.

Released on 6 December, Marvel Rivals is the latest hero shooter on the market and in a genre that has been pretty unlucky in recent years, it seems as though this addition by NetEase, in collaboration with Marvel Games, is already proving to be a success.

Featuring 33 of our favourite superheroes and supervillains (with many more to be added over time), the brand-new PvP shooter has already amassed 10 million players within 72 hours and has even managed to knock Overwatch 2 off the top hero shooter spot.

NetEase Games

Overwatch 2 remains the elephant in the room when it comes to the hero PvP shooter as it has managed to dominate the genre since it was released back in October 2022, as did its predecessor, Overwatch, which arrived in 2016.

Despite many complaints with Overwatch 2 and questions about Blizzard Entertainment’s plans for the game, players have still continued to flock to it and many other titles which have tried to compete with it have failed miserably.

Take Concord, for example, which was released back in August of this year.

The first-person shooter, published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, was met with such low sales and influxes of negative reviews that it was shut down just a month later on 6 September.

Not only did that mean that all players would receive a refund but Sony revealed that it had shut down Firewalk Studios, who worked on the development for the game, for good.

Now with Dexerto reporting that Overwatch 2 has hit its lowest player count on Steam following the release of Marvel Rivals, it begs the question as to if the Blizzard hero shooter has finally met its match.

So how did Marvel Rivals succeed where many others have failed?

Despite some people claiming that it is because it has Marvel in its name, we know this to be false purely because there have been other titles released under the Marvel banner over recent years that have failed to meet expectations.

For example, 2020’s Marvel’s Avengers, 2021’s Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy and 2022’s Marvel’s Midnight Suns, despite not being PvP titles, were not carried by their affiliation to Marvel so it is doubtful that Marvel Rivals would achieve success due to this reason alone.

Sure, being a Marvel title may have brought in some fans of the movies and television shows who would not have played it otherwise, but this definitely wouldn’t be the sole reason why people are both playing and loving the new release.

NetEase Games

It is also worth noting that, considering the fact that Marvel Rivals has been out for less than a week at the time of writing, I can only speak about its early launch success and cannot comment on its longevity, which games such as Overwatch, have managed to maintain for multiple years.

So what does Marvel Rivals have that has contributed to its success?

The biggest thing would have to be its accessibility as Marvel Rivals is not only free across all platforms but also comes with 33 characters already unlocked. Of course, there are microtransactions in the game but these are not necessary in order to play and enjoy the game.

I don’t know about you but I am a sucker for cosmetics but also appreciate that they are not always affordable. However, Marvel Rivals not only offers a relatively cheap battle pass (around £5 as opposed to Overwatch 2’s £10), skins can also be earned for particular heroes by reaching certain ranks with them.

Additionally, thanks to its closed beta that ran for months ahead of full release, big-name streamers have managed to build up a following for Marvel Rivals which would have contributed massively to sales when the game was finally released to the general public.

Alongside unique abilities spread across the game’s roster, an original feature for Marvel Rivals is the ability to team-up with other players.

For example, Black Widow and Hawkeye can team up as a duo when on the same team as well as the characters from Guardians of the Galaxy to name but a few. This will activate unique abilities which will give you, and a fellow player, a boost during gameplay.

It is clear that NetEase didn’t take shortcuts purely because it relied on its Marvel IP, as alongside well-known heroes, there are also a few that we rarely see in the media such as Luna Snow, Psylocke and Cloak & Dagger to name a few.

NetEase Games

They each have their own unique art-style, abilities and uses in the game as well as sprinklings of lore via their biography and conversations with other characters.

Alongside a base level of familiarity for these much-loved Marvel characters, there is also the introduction to new faces which puts superhero fans on the same foot as those new to the characters.

Yes, Marvel Rivals pretty much follows the same game modes as titles such as Overwatch 2 - those being capturing the point, holding the point or escorting a moving vehicle to the finish line. There is no denying that this latest PvP shooter does not score any points for originality here.

However, it is Marvel Rivals' attention to detail that sets it apart from the rest.

Spotted by Twitter user Dragonfruit, in each character’s lore section, you can see their personal signature which is not only an amazing detail in itself but also reveals even more if you study them further.

For example, T’Challa writes his name in Wakandan, Groot can’t write so he just draws a smiley face and Moon Knight’s signature features some other names too (if you know, you know).

It is little things like this that make a good game great and despite Marvel Rivals being new to the genre, I, for one, hope it stays and remains successful for a long time.