Marvel Rivals player count soars after successful launch

Marvel Rivals just launched and the player count already boasts impressive numbers.

When Marvel Rivals was suddenly revealed earlier this year, gamers immediately noticed its similarities to Overwatch 2. During the playtests, the comparisons continued. Frustratingly for competitive players, it also featured a lack of enthusiasm for tanks and support. After the game’s launch, gamers still feel like the game plays like Overwatch. The catch for some fans is that it’s better, though some people disagree.

Blizzard’s former president Mike Ybarra accused Marvel Rivals of being an Overwatch clone, even comparing Black Widow to Widowmaker in a now-deleted tweet. Several fans quickly pointed out that Black Widow was a Marvel character decades before Overwatch existed. Despite these criticisms, Marvel Rivals has made a massive splash in the hero shooter scene, and the player count proves as much.

Marvel Rivals reaches over 400,000 players on its first day.

Marvel Rivals has reached over 400,000 peak players on Steam within 24 hours. The game currently averages around 350,000 to 450,000 players. The player count will likely hover around that number, especially with Overwatch 2’s recent drop in popularity.

It’s nothing new for games to see massive numbers on release day. For example, XDefiant saw over 1 million players within the first few hours of its launch but now, seven months after its release, the game is shutting down. However, the reviews for Marvel Rivals are largely positive on Steam, which means those players may stick around.  Gamers have been leaving a flood of positive reviews on Steam for the free-to-play Marvel Rivals. Some go as far as to call it a “gold standard” for hero shooters, though others feel it’s an exaggeration.

The Marvel Rivals team certainly doesn’t mind the positive press. The official Twitter/X account celebrated reaching the Most Played Games list at number 2 on launch. That ranking puts it just below Counter-Strike 2, signaling just how popular the game is. With the sheer depth of the Marvel comics roster, Marvel Rivals has plenty of content for the foreseeable future. The only issues players report are how unoptimized the Unreal Engine 5 game is. With this seemingly being the norm for the industry, it wasn’t a deal breaker for many players.

The massive player count signals that the hero shooter genre is far from dead. A fresh face in the competitive scene reignited a passion even among lapsed fans. Meanwhile, the Marvel brand makes it very appealing for casuals and comic nerds alike.