Why Marvel vs. Capcom Fans Are Flocking Back to The Game

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home December 24, 2024 2 Views 5 Min Read
Why Marvel vs. Capcom Fans Are Flocking Back to The Game

It’s hard to think of a year that’s been better for Marvel vs. Capcom fans than 2024. For the first time ever, the entire Marvel vs. Capcom franchise, alongside the historically relevant Punisher arcade beat them up, is available on PC and modern consoles thanks to Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics. Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, which falls outside that collection, is still enjoying its heightened publicity after being featured as EVO 2023’s first official classic game tournament, and many of its character and gameplay mod projects are still active.

That would have been impressive already, but what clinched 2024 as MvC’s busiest year ever was none other than its black sheep, Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite. Released for PC, PS4, and Xbox One on September 19, 2017, it suffered from intense fan backlash before and after it launched. Dreams of living up to its “Infinite” moniker through years of support died almost immediately, with monthly Steam player counts rarely passing 100 concurrent players after just five months. However, on December 20, 2024, Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite pulled in more players than anyone could have expected, and it was all thanks to its fans.

Marvel vs Capcom Infinite Player Count Spike mod

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Marvel Vs. Capcom: Infinite Gets Major Player Count Spike

Seven years after its original release, the Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite crossover fighting game is getting a major player count spike.

As evidenced by its Steam numbers, Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite was not a popular game, and the reasons why are numerous. Pre-release, fan outrage began with the removal of MvC’s iconic X-Men and Fantastic Four fighters. Nowadays, people blame the incomplete Fox merger with Disney as the motive, but that knowledge came too late. MvCI’s general roster was considered inferior to MvC2 and UMvC3’s, and even its returning fighters looked worse due to an art style shift and budget constraints. At least the game’s rollback netcode worked despite lacking crossplay, but that wasn’t enough to stop it from being squashed by another tag fighter, Dragon Ball FighterZ, in early 2018.

2024 Marked Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite’s Turning Point

Still, in spite of all its faults, MvCI gathered a small, but faithful community through its freeform 2v2 mechanics and stable netplay, and none were more prominent or outspoken than Maximilian Miles Christiansen. Better known as Maximilian Dood, Max took a lot of heat for supporting MvCI at launch while also offering constructive criticism, and his career as a variety streamer meant that he couldn’t afford to linger on the game. However, he never forgot it, and in early 2024, a breakthrough in MvCI’s modding scene prompted Max to assemble a team of around 40 paid developers to create the free mod that would revive Marvel Infinite.

Eight months later, the overhaul mod Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite & Beyond launched on December 20, 2024, and during the following weekend, the game hit its second-highest monthly Steam peak at 1322 concurrent players. MvCI and its Deluxe Edition being 80% off in the Capcom Holiday Deals event helped, but sales alone wouldn’t have regained such a controversial title half of its all-time Steam player peak of 3603 on September 20, 2017. Even if the content changes are relatively light, Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite & Beyond is what MvCI always should have been.

Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite & Beyond’s Changes, Explained

Poor presentation was arguably the greatest sin MvCI ever committed, so the majority of Beyond’s development time was spent revising the soundtrack, menus, visuals, and even DLC, Story, and Arcade Mode-specific assets. Gameplay tweaks will mostly be appreciated by competitive players, but everyone can enjoy Thanos’ new abilities from a completed Infinity Gauntlet. The offline-only Cross Frenzy, Single Cross Frenzy, and Cross Fever modes round things out with casual-oriented fun, and Cross Fever even emulates the co-op tagging from 2XKO. As Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite’s Steam player count remains several times higher than normal, it’s clear that Max and company’s labor of love has been worth the effort.

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