Marvel Rivals trounces Overwatch 2 as it hits over 400,000 players at launch-Adam Starkey-Entertainment – Metro

A Marvel at launch (Marvel/NetEase)

Marvel might have a hit on its hands with its new Overwatch competitor, as Marvel Rivals launches to impressive numbers on Steam.

Following several alpha and beta tests earlier this year, Marvel Rivals has now officially launched around the world.

Developed by NetEase, the 6v6 free-to-play third-person hero shooter is basically Overwatch with superheroes, with 33 playable characters (including GC favourite Squirrel Girl) and eight maps available from the start.

Following its launch at midnight on Friday, December 6, Marvel Rivals has racked up some impressive player numbers on Steam, surpassing GTA 5 and Monster Hunter: World.

According to SteamDB, Marvel Rivals has already reached an all-time concurrent peak of 444,286 players. For context, this is only just behind Helldivers 2’s peak of 458,709 and Among Us at 447,476, and it’s likely it could surpass both over the weekend.

This all-time peak is the 25th highest ever, ahead of GTA 5 (364,548), Capcom’s juggernaut Monster Hunter: World (334,684), and survival hit Sons Of The Forest (414,257).

At the time of writing (when the US hasn’t woken up yet), it is the fourth most-played game on Steam with 195,457 players, behind only Counter-Strike 2, PUBG: Battlegrounds, and Dota 2.

While you might think this success has something to do with the Marvel license, several Marvel games have flopped in recent years, most notably 2022’s Marvel’s Midnight Suns and 2021’s Guardians Of The Galaxy. There have been hits too though, including Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and Marvel Snap.

The big boon for Marvel Rivals at the outset is the fact it is free-to-play, but with Overwatch falling out of favour in recent years, it’s perhaps the perfect time for another competitive hero shooter to steal its thunder. For comparison, Overwatch 2, which fully launched in August last year, achieved a peak of only 75,608 players.

As with any live service game, however, the big test is whether it can maintain these numbers in the coming months, but it’s certainly a promising start.

It seems like Marvel Rivals has many characters in the pipeline too. Dataminers have unearthed files pointing to Blade, Mister Fantastic, Ultron, Captain Marvel, and others coming to the shooter. You can check out the full launch roster, and the rumoured future characters, below.

Marvel Rivals is available on PC, Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5.

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