Marvel Rivals is a massive hit in a supposedly dead genre ruled by Overwatch 2.
Will the industry learn the right lessons from its success?
By any modern market metric, NetEase Games new Marvel-themed hero shooter is a massive success.
In short, no one was really looking for anOverwatchkiller as we headed into 2025.
Thats a big part of the reason whyMarvel Rivalswas able to take a run at the throne.
The average matchespecially early onis madness.
Believe it or not, thats part of the reason whyMarvel Rivalsdid so well so early on.
For Marvel fans, the novelty and spectacle of it all was reason enough to stick around.
Marvel Rivalsquickly appealed to lapsed and fatiguedOverwatchplayers for the same reason.
In its earliest days, one ofOverwatchs biggest drawswasthe chaos of it all.
The game was built around big moments that could often swing matches in an instant.
The absurd action ofMarvel Rivalsbrought the formerOverwatchfaithful back to better days.
In this case, were talking about more than nostalgia.
What did they find?
The usual suspects, mostly.
Others, of course, turned back toOverwatch.
Theyre convinced that their game can be the next big thing.
But why didMarvel Rivalssucceed where so many of those other games have failed?
What makes it different from something likeConcordwhich launched in a similar genre around the same time?
That alone isnt enough.
It all comes back toMarvel Rivals ability to generate excitement.
Is Marvel simply targeting Blizzard properties that have long reigned over oversaturated genres with few viable challengers in sight?
Perhaps, butMarvel Rivals success is bigger than any single genre, franchise, or company.
Unfortunately, its doubtful the rest of the industry will see it that way.
From a sheer market stance, it shouldnt have worked.
It very much did.
The possibilities are endless, and the potential is obvious.
Blizzard is promisingmajor new updatestoOverwatch 2, and maybe they will make good on those promises.
In many ways,Marvel Rivalsis an anomaly.
It properly utilizes a major license rather than relying on its name value alone.
Its a free-to-play game with generous updates and minimal microtransactions.
These are all significant contributing factors other studios can replicate in their own ways.
Yet, the biggest lesson here may be that many current kings rule over live service and genre graveyards.
Marvel Rivals is out now for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
