Summary
- Marvel Rivals gained 40M players in 3 months, surpassing live-service rivals.
- NetEase plans to support Marvel Rivals for at least 10 years, with e-sports in the works.
- Marvel has enough characters to support the game for 875 years, indicating long-term viability.
Marvel Rivals’ start to life has been astounding. It reached over 40 million players within its first three months, holding onto them better than any other live-service title released in the last few years, and it caused serious damage to Overwatch 2’s player count in the process. Not bad for a game that was almost canned.
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Despite its success, it doesn’t look like NetEase plans to rest on its laurels, with the company confirming in its recent Q4 earnings call that it has plans to support the game for at least ten more years.
Marvel Rivals Will Keep Going For Ten Years And Beyond, E-Sports Plans Announced Soon
Starting around 41:30 during the call, in its investor Q&A section, NetEase was asked about its 40 million users and future plans, including future crossovers and e-sports.
In response, NetEase said, “Marvel Rivals, especially after Season One, has gained wide appraisal from worldwide players. This is a product we’re going to keep investing in, both in development and on marketing. We do believe this is a product we’re going to keep operating, keep enhancing, and keep investing in for ten years and beyond.”
We do believe this is a product we’re going to keep operating, keep enhancing, and keep investing in for ten years and beyond.
Regarding its future plans, NetEase said, “The team does have plans for e-sports. We’re going to announce our e-sports plans to further enhance our gaming ecosystem. We’re also going to do a lot of crossover events and promotions with other media in the future.”
It was recently predicted that, at its current run rate, Marvel has enough characters to support Marvel Rivals for 875 years, so supporting it for ten should be no trouble at all.
One thing NetEase will likely want to quell, though, is the number of character leaks Marvel Rivals is seeing. Reports have suggested that five X-Men, Blade and Ultron, and Angela could be coming to the game soon.
Third-Person Shooter
Action
Multiplayer
- Released
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December 6, 2024
- ESRB
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T For Teen // Violence
- Developer(s)
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NetEase Games
- Publisher(s)
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NetEase Games