Thoughts, Links & MoodsOverwatch, watch out — Marvel Rivals might just steal all your players – and they might even manage to keep them!
On December 17th, after just 11 days since launch, Marvel Rivals announced a staggering 20 million players. When compared to Overwatch 2’s data on SteamDB, their concurrent player numbers look phenomenal for such a short time frame.
Marvel Rivals has also jumped on the esports bandwagon early. The first Championship is already happening this December. This weekend, they’re hosting an Invitational to bring professional teams into the competition. Don’t get me wrong — it’s far from perfect. But considering the game has only been out for 12 days, it’s an impressive start.
In contrast, it took Blizzard much longer to establish their esports league for Overwatch — and even then, they eventually fumbled it by becoming too greedy. Blizzard’s problems weren’t limited to their esports strategy, though. They’ve made a string of poor decisions that alienated players across the board.
It’ll be interesting to see how Marvel Rivals’ player base holds up three or six months from now. Can they keep the players engaged and navigate the post-hype phase successfully?
Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if Blizzard gets so salty about Rival’s success that they resort to suing Marvel for copyright infringement. Some elements of Marvel Rivals — like the voices, animations, graphics, and sound effects — feel strikingly similar to Overwatch, almost as if they were copied 1:1, or at least 99%.