Summary
- Marvel Rivals' player count on Steam has sharply declined nearly every month in 2025.
- The game peaked with 644,269 players in January but has seen a significant drop since.
- Despite the decline, Marvel Rivals remains popular, and its player base may be stronger on other platforms.
Hero shooter Marvel Rivals has seen sharp declines in its player count on Steam nearly every month this year so far. Marvel Rivals hit the scene in December 2024 and was an instant success. Featuring a roster of iconic heroes from Marvel Comics, a 6v6 format, and fast-paced, exciting gameplay, Marvel Rivals managed to draw in both lapsed Overwatch 2 players and those who may have never played a hero shooter before.
From its debut month in December to January 2025, Marvel Rivals gained players, hitting an all-time peak of 644,269 concurrent players on Steam. Many games hit their peak near launch, and then it's all downhill from there, but Marvel Rivals' initial player counts on the platform suggested that the hero shooter had more staying power than the typical live-service venture. Unfortunately, the Marvel Rivals player count has been on a massive decline since then, and while the game is still clearly very popular, it's now a far cry from its peak.
Marvel Rivals Players Aren’t Happy With the Hellfire Gala Moments Event
Marvel Rivals players come together to express their frustration over the Hellfire Gala Moments event in NetEase Games' popular hero shooter.
According to SteamDB data, Marvel Rivals' player count has dropped dramatically since its peak in January 2025. There was a 32.0% drop in February, with 206,354 players leaving. The drop held steady in March, with another 33.7% abandoning the hero shooter. April, however, saw a slight gain of 8.6%, only for the last 30 days to pin up a 37.0% loss so far. Its latest 24-hour peak is 133,416 concurrent players, way down from its 644,269 peak in January. The data shows that hundreds of thousands of players have stopped playing Marvel Rivals on Steam, which is certainly not a great thing for a live-service game, but fans of the hero shooter shouldn't panic yet as there is more to the story.
Marvel Rivals Player Count is Way Down From Its Peak
It's true that Marvel Rivals' player count on Steam is down significantly from its peak, but it remains a very healthy product. After all, its player count numbers on Steam are still impressive, even if they have suffered a steep decline. The player loss trend from month to month might even continue for a bit, but Steam is just one platform where Marvel Rivals is played. Marvel Rivals is readily available on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X as well, and it's entirely possible that those platforms have done a far better job of retaining the game's player base. Unfortunately, no concrete data is readily available to back that up, though the game does appear to be listed as one of the top free-to-play titles for both platforms.
What will be interesting to see is if Marvel Rivals is able to bounce back or even exceed its January 2025 peak. The mid-season update for Marvel Rivals is coming at the end of the month, and if that's not enough for lapsed players to pop back in, chances are many will return when Season 3 launches. Marvel Rivals has ambitious plans for new characters and content in the months and years ahead, and as long as it all lives up to fan expectations, the game should be just fine in the long run.
Marvel Rivals
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 78 /100 Critics Rec: 84%
- Released
- December 6, 2024
- ESRB
- T For Teen // Violence
- Developer(s)
- NetEase Games
- Publisher(s)
- NetEase Games
WHERE TO PLAY
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
- Genre(s)
- Third-Person Shooter, Action, Multiplayer
