Surprisingly, Marvel Rivals does a good job of filling the gaps where Suicide Squad and Overwatch 2 clearly failed. I’m still trying to figure out how this happened and why it was so successful myself, but all you need to know is that this game is a great superhero game with an IP that’s perfect for this genre. It’s a shooting game. If you like comics and video games and want to look cool to tomorrow’s kids watching TikTok? This is the game to try. The holy grail was sought: comics would finally capture the attention of Gen Z.
When I first reported on Marvel Rivals back in March, there was a lot about the concept that I didn’t believe. Since the pandemic, there has been a long period in which companies have all but given up on large-scale, expensive AAA production. A game with a great story and high production values, instead of an accessible service looter/shooter.
Games like Anthem, Redfall, Overwatch 2, and even Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League from DC, another major publisher of comics, are all It was part of an unspoken gaming industry axis that ended in failure. Pursuing a long-term revenue stream from a service video game without any community management, which is a key element needed to make a looter/hero/shooter work. I’m tired of it. A lot of the gaming industry and my peers were tired of it. As did anyone who follows the game.
Because the reality is that the majority of depressing game companies have stopped trying to follow trends and improve quality. Releasing a AAA game is a risky endeavor that can take years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars. So many game companies just wanted to clone Fortnite, Destiny, and Overwatch. It’s all about cost savings and recurring revenue.
Marvel Rivals concept art design
What these companies don’t admit is that their games worked because of their fans in conjunction with their community managers. We need to interact with our fans, give them a place to enjoy the game, talk about the game, and most importantly, pay attention to what’s coming next and why they keep playing and paying for the experience. The people at the company who guided fans about what’s going on. What are their roles? Some of them were the first to be affected in layoffs that have been going on for years.
Frankly, it’s been game-killing and awful for many of us to see companies continue to pursue this model. Stop trying and create one IP playground after another where players can shoot each other. At best, it’s a glorified laser tag you paid a lot of money for, and at worst, it’s a skin farm aimed at impressing the very community you’re spending time with. resulted in increased gameplay and spending.
The very essence and soul that makes the game fun has ended up in a slightly oversaturated garbage heap of this style of game. But the industry continued to move in this direction when companies pursuing the opposite — companies that just made good games (see our 2023 Game of the Year nominees) — were reaping the benefits. Why no one cared and everyone kept wanting this model that failed over and over again, and it was killing the gaming industry.
But it came out again this year. According to Steam streaming numbers, Helldivers 2 and Palworld had quite a following at launch. And more importantly, both had a realistic scale from mid-level indies to current success. So here we are, towards the end of the year, and Marvel Rivals is finally released, surprising everyone in the industry, myself included, by announcing how to do right what everyone was failing at.
Now, I’m a huge gamer and Marvel fan, and I seriously thought this endeavor wasn’t going to be successful. But I was wrong.
To date, Marvel Rival has over 10 million players. The online community of fans seems to love the game, as reviews on Steam have been very positive, the player base has grown, and it remains at the top of every metric. What about games like this that rely on consistent users? This blows all your data out of the water. And I’m really happy to admit that I’m in love with their synergy strategy. I mean…look how the world is obsessed with one man, Jeff the Landshark, right now.
NetEase is very good at this type of gameplay and has a proven track record. But Marvel Rivals exceeds all kinds of game expectations, and it’s probably just missing a key metacritical score. Data also shows that people are buying battle passes and skins, making it the second best-selling game on Steam by revenue, according to IGN.
By the way, don’t you have this data? We’re still a long way from actually considering console data. So from what I’ve seen so far, almost all numbers are expected to be even higher.
The truth is, regardless of the critics’ scores, this game has it all, from the art style to the UI to the gameplay. The questionable third-person perspective many choose when it comes to shooter-oriented games also works from a gameplay animation standpoint. It also serves as a secondary form of potential revenue from skins that can be released for years to come. My only real question is how Marvel Rivals will continue to communicate with fans and plan their season roadmap. Because it seems to be a death trap in almost all of these games.
So far, though, Marvel Rivals appears to be an overall success. It’s a fun game where you play as Marvel’s superheroes (over 33 to come) and complete tasks of absolute power. And while I will always love the Rocksteady Arkham series and Insomniac style storylines (IT’S COMIC GAMES PEOPLE – THIS STUFF STUFF AN ACTUAL STORY!) – I can see why this game is especially fun.
Marvel Rivals is free to play on Playstation, XBox, Epic Games Store, and Steam.
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