Marvel is Quickly Becoming a Free-to-Play Games Titan

Marvel is Quickly Becoming a Free-to-Play Games Titan

Marvel has always had a presence in the world of video games, from the earliest days of gaming with titles like 1982’s Spider-Man for the Atari 2600, to 2000s classics like Spider-Man 2 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance. Marvel’s presence in the gaming world has grown exponentially stronger in the last decade or so, with Insomniac’s Spider-Man series and Guardians of the Galaxy setting a high bar, and titles like Marvel’s Wolverine, Blade, and Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra now on the horizon.




But while single-player narrative-driven games have always been Marvel’s bread and butter, the company has been gradually gaining more traction in the mobile and live-service market. And by the end of 2024, Marvel could stand as a titan of the free-to-play world.

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Marvel Has Started to Dominate the Free-to-Play Market

Originally released in October 2022, Marvel Snap was a major success in its first few months. Along with earning critical acclaim and a Game Award for Best Mobile Game, Marvel Snap was officially crowned as the highest-grossing collectible card game in September 2023 when it announced it had made $100 million in global revenue.

Though its current player count and sales stats aren’t known, it seems likely that Marvel Snap is still considered a success for the company, with new content still hitting the game at a regular pace. After a multitude of failed attempts to dominate the mobile market, Marvel Snap finally gave the company its white whale.


Marvel Continues to Have a Strong Presence in Fortnite

A hub of all things pop-culture, Fortnite has hosted more than its fair share of Marvel crossovers over the last six years. Along with skins based on Marvel comics and MCU movies, Fortnite has also experimented with a few larger-scale Marvel-themed events, such as two entire seasons revolving around the brand. The latest Marvel Fortnite season came to an end at the beginning of November, and it saw players face off against Doctor Doom while suited-up as War Machine, Iron Man, and an array of other Marvel heroes and villains.

While Fortnite is also home to skins from DC, Star Wars, Disney, Dragon Ball Z, Transformers, Assassin’s Creed, Halo, Resident Evil, and so many other pop-culture franchises, Marvel is by far one of the most prevalent in the live-service game, with over 70 Marvel skins being present in the game so far.


Marvel Rivals Is Poised to Steal Overwatch’s Crown

As evidenced by Concord, the hero shooter genre is notoriously difficult to succeed in right now, but Marvel Rivals looks set to give games like Overwatch a run for their money. After an incredibly successful playtest that saw over 52,000 players join the PC servers on day one, Marvel Rivals has already gained quite a following, and there’s a lot of excitement surrounding its upcoming December 6 release date.

Marvel Rivals
‘ upcoming crossover with games like
Fortnite
and
Marvel Snap
exemplifies Marvel’s rise in the free-to-play market.

A recent dev diary video from NetEase has also confirmed some exciting plans for Marvel Rivals‘ December 6 launch. In the month following Marvel Rivals‘ release, it’ll receive six new heroes and a bevy of new maps. And there’s plenty more where that came from, with Marvel Rivals Season 1 set to begin in early January 2025. If Marvel Rivals can keep its players hooked long-term, then Marvel could end up being one of the biggest names in the free-to-play market.

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